I have long been a Les Miles fan (or apologist or sunshine pumper or whatever term you prefer) and still think he's an exceptional recruiter, peerless motivator and good moral man. But the Mad Hatter is dead. He was on life support for most of the game and finally breathed his last on the 3rd and 10 run with under 2:00 left. The Mad Hatter would have called a throw into the end zone to ice the game or bounced Ford to the outside on 3rd and run a seam route to a TE on 4th. The Mad Hatter would have done SOMETHING to win the game. Instead Coach Miles did something to not lose the game. He played for the tie. He sent out his shaky kicker with the mindset that his D would do no worse than give up a game-tying FG. The Mad Hatter in the past frequently bet on his team but, contrary to most opinions, he rarely gambled. He showed faith in his offense, he kept defenses off balance and he took what was there. Last night he gambled four times and didn't win any. But when it mattered, he refused to bet. The Mad Hatter is dead. Long live Les Miles.
CLM is at his best when he only has one decision to make. Take the Florida game a few years ago when we made all the 4th downs on the winning drive. Those decisions are easy to make because if you don't make them you lose. A blind dog with a note in his mouth can make those calls.....they are no brainers. Where CLM has problems is seeing the game as a whole, and making tactical decisions. Yes, he made four stupid calls last night (fake FG, onside kick, going for it on 4th down, and trying a 50+ yard field goal when a punt was the best option). Each of those decisions had less than 25% of succeeding, BUT he also wasted timeouts in the second half (I think he used all of them in the 3rd quarter, with two on the same drive). Go back to the very first game he coached at LSU (blew the lead to loose to Tennessee), then throw in the Ole Miss game where he mismanaged the clock and we lost. I'll throw in benching Jarrett Lee when he is 6-0 and leading the SEC for Jordan Jefferson, and not playing Lee at all in the BCS championship game. Simply put CLM is Mack Brown on stupid steroids.
Nonsense how many times has Miles gambled and it paid off and he's lauded as "Lesticles" or whatever.....last night was not his night and I'm sure he'd do it differently if given the opportunity, but if his gambles paid off and we won you would all be praising him today, we lost a very close game.....buckle up and get ready for the next one.
Mostly true albeit crude regarding in game. But les runs circles around Mack on motivating and having his kids ready to play. Not even close.
Alleman has proven to be one of the better kickers in the SEC over time. The 55 yarder was out of his range and that specific decision was equivalent to last year's Alabama game where the almighty Saban kept trotting his kicker out to attempt field goals that were out of his range. Alleman has to make the ones that ARE within his range however. The 3rd and 10 run was playing for the win. Run out the clock while you have a lead and you win. Period. I can't knock Miles for that call. I can knock him for that stupid version of the wildcat we run.
Miles recruits said talent. If they win in spite of him it's still because of him. It's quite the paradox. Les made plenty mistakes that cost us. He admitted such in his own way, which is a plus. Still cant unlose that game however.
