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Les Miles celebrated his 61st birthday by arriving a bit late to his weekly press conference. Once he arrived, the coach shared his feelings on the loss to Alabama, the officiating in the game and the status of a suspended player.
- As he often does when holidays are coming up, Miles thanked all of the veterans for their service with Veterans’ Day approaching.
- Miles said his team “aches” from the loss to Alabama and that they saw ways on film that they could have avoided “finishing second” in the game against the Crimson Tide. Miles spoke by phone to SEC head of officials Steve Shaw on a variety of plays that he had questions about. Shaw was candid in explaining all of the calls, Miles said.
- Miles said his team did more than enough defensively to win against the Crimson Tide, saying that when you hold Alabama to 315 yards of total offense, “you’ve accomplished something.” Miles still took exception to Vadal Alexander’s personal foul penalty late in the game, saying it “could have been made in a different way” by the officials. The coach seemed comfortable with the explanations he got from Shaw, and said he respects the job SEC officials do. On his resigned nature toward the matter, Miles said, “If that sucker (the score) could change, you’d see an entirely different guy at the podium.” Miles went on to later add that feedback from coaches is key to improving officiating.
- Miles called Arkansas a “quality opponent” (what else?) and said the Razorbacks’ “enormous” offensive line is a big strength. Miles said Bret Bielema’s team has played everyone tough this season, and he expects the same.
- After LSU fans chanted an obscenity at Nick Saban, Miles said he was completely unaware of the chant. He also did not hear the stadium PA telling fans to stay in the stands at the end of the game.
- Miles is not worried about the weather in Arkansas this coming weekend, with the possibility of snow in the forecast. Miles said his team will be looking forward to playing in a cold-weather game.
- Rashard Robinson, the suspended cornerback, is not practicing with the team and he did not practice last week. “It’s an indefinite suspension. Wouldn’t expect to see him again in the short term,” Miles said. “There’s a responsibility he has to this team that has been forgone,” Miles said.
- Kenny Hilliard, who left the Alabama game with a shoulder stinger, has a good-sized bruise but will return to practice this week.
- Miles said his team might be the youngest in the “N-C-two-A” and this is a special team. He said they’re a group of fighters who are on the verge of being something great. He anticipates the team getting on the practice field today and working through their “aches” from the Alabama game and will feel better as the week progresses.
- On the numerous drops LSU had against Alabama, Miles said that he’d keep throwing to those guys again and again. “Just think about how many more plays could have happened if we picked up four more third downs,” he said. Anthony Jennings only had two bad passes, according to Miles, and he’s going to keep getting better as he wraps his hands around the offense. Miles said they are approaching “equity” in the passing offense.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
