LSU head coach Les Miles accepted blame for the Tigers’ collapse last Saturday against Ole Miss, although it appears that he isn’t accepting blame for everything.
“As part of the process, I evaluate everything we do — players and coaches,” Miles continued. “I’m part of that process. I’m no different than anybody in this team room. I mismanaged the back end of the Ole Miss game.
“I’m responsible. I’m the head coach.”
The signal-caller on the sidelines (graduate assistant John Dunn) told Jefferson to spike the ball.
“To try to get the ball snapped with one second was certainly our greatest desire,” Miles said. “There was a possibility of Ole Miss having 12 men on defense. That came down from the press box.
Here’s the problem: Miles was the one that was signaling for Jefferson to spike the clock, as evidence by the video below.
Miles wants to take blame for what happened and he should, because that’s what head coaches do. But why did he not take blame for motioning to Jefferson to stop the clock? Jefferson says that the signal-caller told him to spike the ball and maybe he did, but Miles was clearly doing the motion too, yet he says he doesn’t know who told the quarterback to spike the clock.
At the end of the day, this will go down as just a massive screw up by all parties involved and LSU will just have to move on and get over it. It was just a bad ending in a bad loss, but I find it interesting that Miles won’t admit that he too was motioning for Jefferson to stop the clock. If he’s going to accept blame for the loss, he might as well go the whole nine yards and admit that he screwed up by listening to the press box and giving Jefferson the spike motion too.
Following LSU’s 25-23 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday in which Tigers quarterback Jordan Jefferson spiked the ball with :01 left remaining, Les Miles told the media that he didn’t know who instructed his signal caller to “clock” the ball.
Apparently Miles is either a liar or doesn’t have a real good memory, because it was him (thanks to SPORTSbyBROOKS.com for the video link):
This is damning evidence for Miles on several levels. Not only did he lie about what happened, but he also completely threw Jefferson under the bus by telling the media he didn’t know who told him to spike the ball.
Miles should have owned up to the mistake (maybe he thought there was more time on the clock when he was doing the gesture?) afterwards and took his medicine then. Now he’s going to feel the wrath of not only lying about the situation, but he also stands to lose some credibility with his players and the program.
I thought this week in college football was going to be a massive dud. However, after UConn’s emotional victory over Notre Dame and now this thrilling finish in Oxford, I’ve been proven wrong.
Although the majority of the game was evenly matched, people are simply going to focus on the Tigers’ final drive. Ole Miss came out with a contagious passion, displaying confidence on both ends of the field. The Rebels held LSU to five plays and nine yards in the first quarter — pretty impressive. Still, LSU capitalized on key opportunities, particularly after a blocked field goal which Patrick Peterson returned for a 53-yard touchdown. Despite their underwhelming start, LSU had a slight lead over their opponents at the half: 17-15.
Before this game, LSU was 38-5 when leading at the half under coach Les Miles. That’s strange, because what followed was a downright sloppy performance by the Tigers’ defense. Dexter McCluster — one of the most exciting players to watch in all of college football — embarrassed the Tigers’ front seven, exposing its weaknesses on many of his 24 carries. Rebels quarterback Jevan Snead had an solid game, but it was McCluster who actually threw his team’s sole touchdown, finding Shay Hodge in the fourth.
With less than two minutes left in the game, it looked as though Ole Miss had this one in the bag. However, LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson has shown essential composure under pressure. With the clock winding down, he hit Rueben Randle for a 25-yard touchdown pass. The score was 25-23 in favor of Ole Miss, so the Tigers went for the two-point conversion. They failed, but the Tigers weren’t ready to quit.
In his deliberate coaching style, Les Miles immediately ordered an onside kick. Somehow sneaking by McCluster, the Tigers’ Brandon LaFell recovered the ball. Jefferson then connected with LaFell for a 26-yard reception. For a brief moment, I thought LSU was going to pull through. Three plays later it was fourth-and-26 from the Ole Miss 48. Only nine seconds remained. What, only nine seconds? Where did all the time go? Well, LSU wasted 17 seconds after their third down before calling a time out. The stadium held its breath as Jefferson threw downfield to Terrance Toliver. Surrounded by Rebels, Toliver made a remarkable catch at the Rebels’ six-yard line. Here comes the Tigers’ field goal team to win the game. Wait, never mind. With the clock stopped on the one second mark for the referees to reset the chains, Les Miles froze. What happened to that readiness? His field goal team never stepped on the field. Instead, Jefferson attempted to spike the ball. Blah. The clock ran out and Ole Miss had defeated LSU at home for the first time in eleven years.
