BATON ROUGE – LSU’s focus in practice this week has been two-fold as the third-ranked Tigers have been preparing for their final non-conference opponent of the regular season in Towson, while at the same time working to eliminate some of the mistakes that have been costly during the first month of the season.
LSU welcomes Towson, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in the Football Championship Subdivision, for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday in Tiger Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
LSU brings a 4-0 overall mark and the nation’s longest home field winning streak into the contest at 20 straight in Tiger Stadium. The Tigers also hold the NCAA record for consecutive non-conference regular season victories at 40 in a row. Towson, who is ranked No. 12 in this week’s FBS Top 25, is 2-1 overall. It’s the first meeting between LSU and Towson in football.
“I think we’ve had a good week of practice to this point,” LSU coach Les Miles said following Wednesday’s workout. “I think the team is truly going to be challenged by our opponent. They’re a talented group. They have speed and ability offensive and defensively, as well as on special teams. I think our team understands that, and I also think they want to improve for the season. We had a good practice today. This is a practice that we needed to have.”
LSU has used practice and meeting time week to work on correcting mistakes made last week against Auburn when the Tigers were whistled for nine penalties covering 80 yards.
‘We reviewed every one (of the penalties) and it was painstaking,” Miles said. “The defense had very few. Special teams had multiple plays and penalties. Offensively, there were a couple holding penalties and some off-side penalties that really could have been reduced.
“We talk about the things that we need to do in a game and we specifically coach to certain pieces. It’s difficult in other instances to reconcile or to recreate that scenario in a drill. Basically what we do, it’s more of a reminder and a pointed piece that the value of that penalty is not just a couple of yards, it’s the opportunity for victory. Hopefully that’s sinking in.”
Miles used a portion of his post-practice meeting with the media to compliment the play of running back Spencer Ware, who rushed for 90 yards to go with 44 receiving yards in last week’s win over Auburn. Ware, who had been slowed most of camp with an injury, appears to finally be at full speed after playing sparingly during the first three games of the year.
“I think he’s in a position where he’s put himself in great shape and he’s looking forward to having a great year,” Miles said. “I would read him as a guy who’s going to compete like heck for the duration (of the season), health being a key piece to that.”
Miles also noted that LSU’s leading rusher through the first two games of the season – Alfred Blue – will again be out this week with an injury.
“I’m not overly-optimistic,” Miles said on Blue’s return in the near future. “I think he’s going to come back. I think he’s going to be healthy, but I just don’t know what length of time.”
LSU will practice again on Thursday followed by a walk-thru on Friday afternoon.