FAYETTEVILLE — LSU is caught in a quandary this week.
Coach Les Miles and his BCS No. 15 Tigers understand there’s a lot riding on Saturday’s regular-season finale against surging Arkansas at Tiger Stadium, their fans and the media cannot let last week go.
A failed two-point conversion attempt combined with questionable play-calling and time management doomed LSU in the final 80 seconds of its 25-23 loss at Ole Miss on Saturday.
Miles gave an extensive step-by-step explanation of those crucial last few minutes to open his weekly news conference Monday, beginning with his acceptance of blame: “It’s my responsibility. I’m the head coach,” he said.
Miles took 14 minutes and 30 seconds with his opening remarks, more than a minute longer than Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino’s entire Monday news conference. Reporters asked Miles 18 questions for about 18 more minutes, and every one of them dealt with LSU’s end-of-game issues.
Several times during his opening, Miles referenced the errors in the final moments of LSU’s loss in Oxford, Miss., saying he had met with the team, and “I spoke to them very honestly about my mistake.”
Trailing 25-23, LSU had a first down at the Ole Miss 32 with two timeouts remaining and about 45 seconds left in the game. Kicker Josh Jasper had kicked a 50-yard field goal earlier in the game, so the Tigers appeared to be in his range.
But instead of running the ball and setting up for a field goal, LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton called passes on the next three plays. Quarterback Jordan Jefferson threw incomplete on first down, and Jefferson was sacked for a loss of 9 yards on the next play, after which LSU called timeout with 32 seconds remaining.
After a screen pass to Stevan Ridley was thrown for a 7-yard loss, the Tigers inexplicably allowed about 17 seconds to run off the clock before calling their final timeout at the nine-second mark to prepare for fourth-and 26from the Ole Miss 48.
“That was my mistake, and I understand,” Miles said. “I regret the mistake that cost my team a best opportunity at victory.”
LSU planned to throw into the end zone on fourth down, anticipating it would be the final play, Jefferson’s Hail Mary was caught by Terrance Toliver on the 6 with one second left on the clock.
In the ensuing confusion, both teams rushed to the ball, along with the chain gang. Jefferson got a “spike” call relayed from the press box to the sideline to the field, and he carried out the call, much to the chagrin of LSU fans, as the clock expired.
However, as Miles pointed out, there wasn’t enough time to either rush his field goal unit onto the field or even run a play, as the clock ran out as soon as the official walked away from spotting the ball. On Ole Miss’ official play-by-play, the Hail Mary pass is listed as the final play of the game.
Miles spoke of his anguish and the need to purge that game.
“In 48 hours, I’ve gone through the pain of this, and it’s not something I enjoy,” he said. “Certainly my team feels as bad as I.
“But I’m done with Ole Miss. I know you’ll have some questions after, but I have got to turn my attention to Arkansas. They’re a very talented football team. My team shows up at 3:15 today, and I don’t have the luxury to review the call and review the situations yet again.”
Yet that’s exactly what Miles did with reporters for the next 18 minutes.
Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino and his team faced a similar situation the week after the Razorbacks lost 23-20 at No. 1 Florida, when coaches and players were asked all week about the controversial officiating in that game.
When Petrino was asked Monday if he recalled any “hangover” from that week as the Razorbacks prepared for Ole Miss, he sidestepped the question.
A reporter followed by asking, “Is there a concern that LSU’s going to hear all week about how they messed up?”
Petrino perked up.
“Oh yeah, I think it’s something that really gives you a hangover,” Petrino said, chuckling. “I didn’t get it. I didn’t get it. I think they need to talk about it all week long.”
Sports, Pages 15 on 11/24/2009