11/17/09 5:55 am CST

Good morning, Tiger Fans. The 2009 LSU football regular season is down to two games that will determine whether LSU plays in a New Year's bowl game or a mid-size bowl game. I predict LSU will play in the Capital One Bowl if they win the last two games and in the Cotton Bowl if they win one of the two remaining games.

The LSU football team welcomed Jordan Jefferson back to practice Monday and he is expected to start against Ole Miss, as are tight end Richard Dickson and center T-Bob Hebert who are expected to return to practice today. Jefferson, Dickson and Hebert did not play against La Tech. Jefferson was replaced by Jarrett Lee, Dickson was replaced by Mitch Joseph and Hebert was replaced by Patrick Longeron who played very well. Also, in the offensive line Alex Hurst played a large part of the second half in place of Lyle Hitt and served notice that he has a bright future at LSU. LSU will need the offense to be clicking on all cylinders to defeat Ole Miss.

Ole Miss is a very balanced team and averages 405 yards per game on offense, with 191 yards on the ground and 214 through the air. Ole Miss has a stingy defense allowing only 313 yards per game. The Rebels allow an average of 133 yards rushing and 180 yards passing per game and average scoring 31 points per game.

Junior quarterback Jevan Sneed has completed 147 of 278 passes for 1,983 yards and 17 touchdowns, but has also thrown 14 interceptions. Snead is considered a great NFL prospect. Shane Hodges is the Rebels' leading pass receiver with 50 catches for 810 yards and six touchdowns. Dexter McCluster has 31 receptions for 394 yards and five touchdowns. Brandon Bolden has 19 receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

Ole Miss has two outstanding running backs in senior Dexter McCluster who has rushed for 775 yards on 107 rushing attempts for a 7.1 average. Sophomore Brandon Bolden from Scottlandville High in Baton Rouge has rushed for 608 yards on 111 carries for a 5.1 average. Ole Miss has an outstanding kick returner in Jesse Grandy who has returned 19 kicks for 544 yards for a 29.0 average. Joshua Shene is a very reliable field goal kicker who has made nine of 11 with his longest being 42 yards. Tyler Campbell is one of the leading punters in the SEC with a 43.7 average per punt.

Coach Les Miles addressed the media Monday and below is part of the briefing:

On Keiland Williams having more opportunity in these final games…

“The key is how bright you shine. He has plenty of time here to distinguish himself and distinguish his career. We look forward to his efforts. His efforts were very good Saturday night. He made some extra effort runs and pounded the line of scrimmage very well. I look forward to how he finishes his career.”

On if Williams will be more of the featured back for the rest of the season…

“I think he gets the first go. The good news is we have some guys there to keep him fresh. In other words, we don’t want to just call Keiland Williams’ number and not have the ability to spell him with Stevan Ridley. I think both will work hand-in-hand, but I’d like to see No. 5 get on track and going and see how well he can play the back end of his career.”

On local product Brandon Bolden having so much success early for Ole Miss…

“To me, he’s a very physical back and plays very well. I’d expect that he would play just like that.”

On Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead…

“When you average 200 yards a game or more throwing the football, and you’re a quarterback that can make all the throws and in my opinion, making the reads better as it gets later in the year as the starter the entire year, I just see his play being better and more efficient, and he’s more capable in the back end. We have to be prepared that when he takes snaps, it’s not only the run that we’re worried about, but the opportunity for him to throw it certainly is there.”

On if Louisiana Tech in the first half gave LSU’s defense any blueprints on how not to defend Ole Miss and the Wild Rebel…

“I don’t know that the blue print necessarily is the issue. I think the great adjustments that were made at halftime were in attitude and not necessarily in scheme. I think our team understands that you don’t take the field against a quality opponent with less than your best effort.”

On if it’s possible we’ll see Jarrett Lee play this weekend…

“I think the good news is Jarrett had the experience that he had last Saturday. Now, I think he’s more prepared to step onto the field if need be.”

On Ole Miss running back Dexter McCluster…

“I’ve watched a lot of his film just in the last 24 to 48 hours, and I can just tell you that he has great speed. He anticipates the cut. He’s tough to touch, and he’s a physical runner as well. He’ll pound it up in there, so he’s a very talented runner.”

On if this is the type of year he envisioned Russell Shepard having before the year started…

“I would always be a little bit more ambitious for a quality player like Russell Shepard. What happens is experience is a very key component, and sometimes as coaches we go by that for talent. I think it’s fortunate that he’s had the year that he’s had, and then, I think there is always the opportunity that he could certainly have done better, and we could certainly have done better with him. That being said, hopefully we’ll finish the remainder of these games where he gets a number of touches and continues to add to his experience.”

On the next two games having trophies on the line…

“I can tell you this. The feel and the want to win a game and to put a history and a trophy beside that, certainly we understand that the feel of victory is a very singular motivator. To put a tradition and a rivalry as Ole Miss besides a trophy, certainly that trophy is important. Certainly we covet both the trophies that are on the line in the next two games, but victory is the first want.”

On the LSU fans’ booing having to do more with play calling than Jarrett Lee…

“I’m glad that it’s not boos on one of our players. Certainly our fan base would all want to support our guys. I don’t know that the forum or the voting of booing in any way affects anything positively. I’ve never been to a contest where that affected anything positively. Point to any example where that is a significant factor in anything, then I’m for you, but having never done that in my entire life, I just can’t imagine what would possess people to do that – to root negatively. Look it up. I guess there is a spot in there where there is a negative piece to rooting or cheering. I don’t know why there would be personally.”

In basketball news, LSU defeated Indiana State 56-45 last night in the NIT preseason tournament. The Tigers will play Western Kentucky tonight at 7 p.m. and if the Tigers win they will spend Thanksgiving week in New York City playing in the NIT finals.

In last night's game, Indiana State took a 2-0 lead to start the game and increased the lead to 6-0 with 15:27 to play in the first half. LSU finally got on the scoreboard on two free throws by Storm Warren with 15:00 to play in the half. LSU fought back tie the game at 8-8 with 10:15 to play in the half, took a 10-8 lead with 9.30 to play and then went on a 8-0 run to make it 20-14 lead 3:15 to play in the half. At the end of the half LSU led 24-19 and Storm Warren led the team in scoring with 10 points and eight rebounds.

In the second half, LSU never trailed and led 44-31 with 7:10 remaining before Indiana State went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 44-37 with 4:23 left on the clock. Tasmin Mitchell hit two free throws to increase the lead to 46-37 and the remainder of the game was all LSU.

LSU is a very well coached team that pays attention to all details of the game and does not take bad shots, but the team did have a bad night shooting and only made 23 of 67 shots for 34 percent. LSU did not make a three point shot the entire game going 0 for 16. LSU made 10 of 12 free throws for 83 percent and had 50 rebounds to 38 for Indiana State. LSU had 10 turnovers, three blocked shots and four steals.

LSU was led in scoring by Storm Warren with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Warren scored 10 points in the first half but picked up his third foul with 14:40 to play in the game and had to sit the bench until around the five minutes mark. Bo. Spencer scored 10 points with six of his points coming from the free throw line. Denis Harris scored 10 point and pulled down eight rebounds. Tasmin Mitchel was held to eight rebounds but did have 14 rebounds.

Below is a press release regarding Game 1 of the LSU Baseball Purple-Gold World Series which begins today at 3 p.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Game 1 of the LSU Baseball Purple-Gold World Series begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Alex Box Stadium. The three-game intrasquad series signals the conclusion of LSU’s five-week fall practice session.

Game 2 is set for 3 p.m. Wednesday and Game 3 starts at 3 p.m. Thursday. All games will be seven innings, and they are open to the public with free admission.

“The Purple-Gold World Series always generates a lot of excitement within our team,” said LSU head coach Paul Mainieri. “We’ve had a very productive fall practice period, and these games will give us a chance to evaluate our club in a competitive environment.”

Mainieri said that two returning starters – junior outfielder Leon Landry and sophomore infielder Tyler Hanover – will miss the games due to injury. Landry is recovering from toe surgery, and Hanover is nursing a strained groin muscle. Both players are expected to be a full strength when preseason workouts begin in January.

LSU hitting coach Javi Sanchez will serve as the head coach of the Gold team, and he will be assisted by Tigers’ equipment managers Matt Montgomery and A.J. Million.

LSU volunteer coach Will Davis will be the head coach of the Purple squad, and he will be assisted by undergraduate assistant coach Buzzy Haydel and equipment manager Josh Pope.

The Gold team will start junior right-hander Ben Alsup on the mound in Game 1, while the Purple will counter with freshman right-hander Michael Reed.

Game 2 will match Gold junior right-hander Daniel Bradshaw versus Purple junior right-hander Austin Ross. Gold sophomore left-hander Chris Matulis will face Purple junior right-hander Anthony Ranaudo in Game 3.

In closing, I am sorry to announce that LSU team physician Dr. J. Robert Rivet of Lafayette passed away early yesterday morning. Dr. Rivet has been the team neurosurgeon since 1980 and during that period has probably done more for players and coaches than anyone in modern LSU history. This is a tremendous loss for the entire LSU family. On a personal note Dr. Rivet and my wife Joy were very close friends and they worked together at Hospice of Acadiana.

11/16/09 5:51 am CST

Good morning, Tiger fans.  LSU is ranked No. 10 this week in both major polls after an unimpressive 24-16 win over LA Tech Saturday night, but remains number eight in the BCS rankings. LSU will be playing at Ole Miss this Saturday and opened as a three-point underdog in the Las Vegas odds. I expect the odds to change later in the week depending on Jordan Jefferson's status.

Ole Miss is led on offense by Dexter McCluster who was named National Player of the Week after his record setting performance Saturday against Tennessee. McCluster rushed for 282 yards on 25 carries and scored four touchdowns on runs of 15, 23, 32 and 71 yards. Ole Miss is 7-3 on the season with wins over Memphis 45-14, SE Louisiana 52-6, Vanderbilt 23-7, UAB 48-13, Arkansas 30-17, Northern Arizona 38-14 and Tennessee 42-17 which is their most impressive win of the season. The three games that Ole Miss lost came against South Carolina 16-10, Alabama 22-3 and Auburn 33-20. LSU and Ole Miss have played three common opponents in Vanderbilt Alabama and Auburn. LSU is 2-1 against the three teams and Ole Miss is 1-2.

LSU will have their work cut out in slowing down McCluster who is very shifty, has great speed and is very dangerous once he gets past the line of scrimmage. I am expecting LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis to assign Patrick Peterson on McCluster when possible. Not only will Peterson have to do a good job against McCluster, LSU linebackers will also have to do a good job containing the jitterbug. I will have more on the game as the week goes.

Sunday was a huge day for email and most of the messages were concerning the lackluster performance by LSU as a team and the poor performance of Jarrett Lee. Lee did not appear to have any confidence from the very start and things got worse as the game went along. I also received a large number of emails concerning LSU fans booing Lee which, in my opinion, is dead wrong. Whether you like or dislike Lee, he is doing his best and does not deserve to be booed. I believe a lot of the booing was directed at the play calling and at Les Miles who makes the big bucks and understands that when things are not working he is reasonable.

I also received a large number of emails asking why Russell Shepard has not seen any playing time at the quarterback position. I do not know the answer, but I do know that Gary Crowton works with Shepard each and every day and would like to see Shepard succeed. I do believe Shepard would have seen some action at quarterback if the game had not been as close as it was. I received a large number of emails from Tiger fans happy that Keiland Williams finally had a chance to show what he could do. I am hoping that Williams will be able to run against the Ole Miss defense which is very good against the run. Williams could be LSU's ace in the hole the remainder of the season.

In football recruiting, there is nothing new to report that I can verify. LSU has 23 commitments if my count is correct. LSU will likely sign up to 27 players. I believe that Miles would like to sign at least one more big-time running back, one more big-time linebacker, one more big-time defensive linemen and two more wide receivers.

In basketball news, LSU was very impressive in their 82-62 win over UL-M Friday night and will play Indiana State tonight at 7 p.m. in the South Region of the NIT tournament. The winner of the game will play the winner of the Milwaukee-Western Kentucky game and the winner of that game will advance to the NIT finals in New York. This LSU team is very thin depth-wise and has very little room for errors and injuries. LSU had a top 10 to 12 recruiting class this year and, in my opinion, is one more top recruiting class from being a national power. LSU has a great coach in Trent Johnson and he is going to make all LSU basketball fans very happy.

In women's basketball news, the Lady Tigers opened the season Sunday at the PMAC with a 92-19 win over Centenary college. LSU led 51-9 at half time. Coach Van Chancellor played 13 players with every player dressed out for the game playing at least 13 minutes.

11/15/09 5:55 am CST

Good morning, Tiger fans. The LSU football team defeated a fired-up and very well coached LA Tech team 24-16. LSU came out flat to start the game and played a very disappointing first half and trailed 13-10 at the break. LA Tech dominated the first half of the game on offense and defense and Les Miles and his coaching staff were out-coached. LA Tech's play calling was outstanding, especially on first downs.

In the first half, LA Tech had 229 yards total offense to LSU's 138. LA Tech had possession of the ball 20:43 minutes to 9:17 for LSU. LA Tech had 14 first downs in the first half to six for LSU. Jarrett Lee started the game in place of Jordan Jefferson and struggled the entire game, but did make two big plays in the second half. In the first half, Lee completed three of 10 passes for 67 yards. Lee finished the game with seven completions out of 22 attempts for 105 yards.

LA Tech picked up 23 first downs to 15 for LSU and had 322 yards total offense compared to 246 for the Tigers. LA Tech rushed for 178 yards, mostly in the center of the field, and threw for 144 yards. LSU had 144 yards rushing and 105 yards passing. Keiland Williams had an outstanding game running the ball picking up 116 yards and two touchdowns but only carried the ball 15 times for an average of 7.7 yards per carry. LA Tech had the ball for 84 snaps compared to 54 for LSU.

I was very worried about the game all week and I had a feeling that LSU was going to be flat, but not so flat that the outcome of the game would not be determined until the final five minutes. I am very concerned because LSU has far superior talent and should have been better prepared to play. The important thing to remember, though, is that LSU did win the game and if LSU wins the last two games of the season and finishes the season 10-2 the bowl selection committee will not care that the win over Tech was as close as it was.

As for individual performances, the only players on offense who I thought played well were Keiland Williams and Russell Shepard. On defense, no one really stood out in my opinion. Patrick Peterson had his usual outstanding game and true freshman Josh Downs made a couple of nice plays as did redshirt freshman Lavar Edwards. As all of you know, Jordan Jefferson, Richard Dickson and T-Bob Hebert did not play in the game. LSU needs these three players to have a chance against Ole Miss. Also, Charles Scott did not play because of his season-ending injury.

LSU plays at Ole Miss next Saturday at 2:30 on CBS and the team will have to play much better than they did against LA Tech to keep from getting run out of the stadium. I watched Ole Miss defeat Tennessee 42-17 and was very impressed with running back Dexter McCluster who rushed for 282 yards and had 324 all-purpose yards. Ole Miss has a huge offensive line with four senior starters that opened huge holes for the Dexter to run through. I also watched most of the Florida-South Carolina game won by Florida 24-14 and was not very impressed with the Gators.

I will try to answer as many of your emails as possible later today and tonight, but most of the day I will be out of town for my wife's family get-together.

In high school football news, in the first round of the playoffs I went 63-17 with my predications, which is not as good in the past few years for the first round. There were a lot more upsets than anytime I can recall doing my high school picks. There will be several great games played this week in the second round.

Below are my picks for week two:

Class 5-A
Rummel 35 Jesuit 7
Barbe 28 Hahnville 26
South Lafourche 28 Westgate 20
Central 48 Ouachita 20
Acadiana 24 Shaw 20
Catholic BR 17 Comeaux 14
Thibodaux 28 St. Pul 20
West Monroe 21 St Aug. 20
Class 4-A
Franklinton 35 Bastrop 7
Cecilia 21 Benton 14
Salmen 21 Breaux Bridge 20
Vandebilt Catholic 17 Karr 14
Lutcher 36 St Louis 14
Huntington 27 Haughton 20
Northside 28 Jennings 20
Neville 27 McDonogh 7
Class 3-A
Notre Dame 34 North DeSoto 7
Rayville 21 Holy Cross 14
Redemptorist 28 Eunice 20
Catholic New Iberia 27 Bogalusa 13
E.D. White 28 Richwood 7
Amite 21 Independence 13
Patterson 28 St James 26
Parkview Baptist 44 Crowley 13
Class 2-A
John Curtis 45 Opelousas Catholic 7
Winnfield 21 Riverdale 20
Farmerville 35 Ferriday 27
St. Charles 35 Springfield 8
Capitol 44 Newman 13
Menard 24 Jonesboro – Hodge 20
Many 34 Lake Arthur 14
Evangel 55 Calvary Baptist 13
Class 1-A
St. John 42 Ouachita Christian 13
Westminister 34 Grambling 7
Delhi Charter 21 Gueydan 20
Haynesville 28 White Castle 20
Oak Grove 28 St. Mary 14
West St. John 35 Block 27
Oberlin 21 St Frederick 13
South Plaquemine 55 Varnado 7

In other LSU news, I want to mention that the LSU volleyball team beat Florida last night in Gainesville. It was a big win for the Lady Tigers who are just behind Kentucky for the league title. The Tigers have already clinched the SEC Western Division Title and still have a shot to win the overall title within the last two weeks of the season. LSU closes out conference play at home next weekend against Miss St on Friday night then Alabama on Sunday the 22nd. In early December, LSU should get a bid to the NCAA playoffs.