Miles impressed with undefeated Alabama

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Every matchup is important in big game in Tuscaloosa, he says

By CARL DUBOIS
Tiger Rag Associate Editor

Les Miles said Alabama’s football team looks better every time he’s seen them on film. By the time the Tigers and Crimson Tide kick off shortly after 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., the unbeaten Tide should look every bit the part of its No. 3 BCS ranking.

LSU (7-1, 4-1) and Alabama (8-0, 5-0) will play in Bryant-Denny Stadium with championship implications, and Miles didn’t try to downplay that.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve enjoyed games of significance,” Miles said this afternoon at his weekly lunch-hour news conference. “This certainly is that.”

His Alabama counterpart and LSU coaching predecessor, Nick Saban, has a history of recoiling at the term “big game,” but Miles is more at ease with embracing it.

“It only counts one, but it’s a very important one,” he said, “and it’s one that we’ll look forward to preparing for. I can tell you that we’ve always wanted to honor our best opponents with our greatest effort, and certainly that’s the intent this week.”

That means across the board, he said, not just in key individual matchups. Those include LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson against Alabama receiver Julio Jones and LSU center T-Bob Hebert against Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody.

Miles said a quality opponent should always bring out your best effort.

Speaking of matchups, Miles said it’s never been Nick vs. Les to him since Saban became coach of the Tide in 2007; rather, it’s always been LSU vs. Alabama, Miles said. If this Alabama team has a weakness, Miles declined an opportunity to identify it during the news conference.

As for LSU’s offense, which made strides after its open date in a 31-10 victory against Auburn and a 42-0 blowout of Tulane, Miles said the goal is to “call the plays we run,” and simply to properly execute them.

The coming of age of Russell Shepard is a work in progress, he said, something that takes time.

“You can’t buy experience,” he said, and that means getting him on the field, letting him have reps, giving him a hole to run through and letting him continue to develop.

“I just think it’s a comfort that is coming to him,” Miles said, “knowing that his number’s going to be called, and he’s going to be in the game.”

The same is true of quarterback Jordan Jefferson, whose timetable has been different, but not the basics of the dynamic Miles described. In this big matchup against Alabama, the check list remains the same for Jefferson, and the goal is for him to check off each item with confidence and leadership.

“He has to do the things that we’ve asked him to do,” Miles said. “He’s got to make quality decisions with the ball. He has to make the checks and get the ball to the receivers and to the tight ends and the running backs as directed, and he just has to play within the scheme of the offense. If he does that, he’ll be fine. Very talented man.”

Miles said his team wants to play for the SEC West championship every year, and removing all of the clutter from the showdown in Tuscaloosa reveals an opportunity for the Tigers to take a big step in that direction.

“I don’t think we need to put other pretense on this game,” he said.