LSU ranked again after Saturday win over Texas A&M

All of this unfolded on national television and a few minutes after the country just saw what certainly appeared to be Miles last game as LSU head coach, LSU athletic director Joe Alleva stepped to the podium.

LSU head coach Les Miles is carried off the field after an NCAA college football game against Texas A&M in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.

“I thought up to Game 7 [Harris] was magnificent”, Miles said.

“There has been much speculation that Les Miles is coaching his last game tonight”, Jacobs said to Gannett Louisiana Saturday morning.

But the most significant carry of the night was by offensive tackle Vadal Alexander and defensive tackle Christian LaCouture, who carried their coach off the field for about 40 yards after the game amid chants of “Keep Les Miles…” Fournette, whose 1,741 yards rushing in his sophomore season has set a single-season school record, added his 18th TD of the season on a late 4-yard run. Les Miles pulled his best zombie impression, and it was awesome.

LSU (8-3, 5-3) moved into a tie for third place in the SEC West with Arkansas and finished ahead of Texas A&M (8-4, 4-4) and Mississippi State with the victory.

Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron’s contract is up, and it’s not clear if he’ll return. He completed just 7 of 21 attempts for 83 yards and was intercepted once.

However, he said staff changes would be “a natural contemplation” even if he stopped short of making any definitive statements.

After the LSU defense forced a three-and-out on Texas A&M’s first possession, the Tigers drove 44 yards in nine plays with the march culminating in a 32-yard field goal by Trent Domingue. “We seemed to undershoot our mark this year”, Miles said. First, firing him would have risked public backlash. LSU’s administration had declined to comment on Miles’ status, fueling speculation that his days roaming Death Valley’s home sideline were about to end after 11 seasons.

“Oh, OK, then so, basically, it’s not a serious overhaul”, Miles continued bitingly, “because the motor seems to be pretty stinkin’ strong, right?”

And outside of a hard-fought regular season win at Tuscaloosa in 2011, the times that Miles has managed to beat Saban hasn’t meant all that much in the bigger picture. Instead, he left his coach and the football team to endure weeks of questions about the uncertainty. I get that. The reason I came here is because the expectations here were so high.

“I know we did a good enough job to get the victory tonight”, Dupre said.

LSU’s Derrius Guice returned the second-half kickoff 75 yards to the Texas A&M 25-yard line, but the Aggie defense stiffened and Domingue missed a 46-yard field goal try at the 12:19 mark of the third quarter.

Miles’ postgame interview with the SEC Network was delayed because – as he said on air – he had to fulfill the Tigers’ postgame tradition of singing the school’s alma mater. I now know what it’s like to ride an elephant.