LSU Notes: Tigers sluggish in scrimmage
BATON ROUGE — There has been virtually nothing but positive momentum surrounding this LSU football team since the 41-14 victory over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3.
The Tigers have their highest preseason ranking in school history at No. 2 in the USA Today coaches' poll, Sports Illustrated and a host of others. Coach Les Miles has at times found it hard not to marvel at the talent, including true freshmen, at his disposal throughout the preseason camp.
On Tuesday, LSU announced a record for season ticket sales at 68,230, breaking the mark of 67,700 from 2006. But also on Tuesday, the Tigers scrimmaged in Tiger Stadium, and for the first time since he had to kick off or discipline players last spring, Miles was not a happy camper.
"I wasn't happy with the scrimmage," Miles said. "I didn't think it was a crisp one, and I didn't think there was any attention to detail that we have become accustomed to. We will go to work tomorrow to correct some of those things."
The scrimmage was closed to the media and the public as all LSU scrimmages are.
Miles, a former Michigan offensive guard, has often said he likes contact in practice as much as possible. Tuesday's scrimmage, which consisted of just under 100 plays, was a light one compared to the full-contact scrimmage LSU held Saturday that pleased Miles. There was no tackling in this one. It is referred to by coaches as a "thud" scrimmage. Defenders will run up to the player with the ball and nudge him.
"It was a non-tackling scrimmage, and I personally do not like those too much," Miles said. "Some of the things that we did were indicative of a thud scrimmage and not necessarily the intensity of a tackle scrimmage. As we kind of point and key toward Saturday, that will become much more important to us."
LSU will hold its final preseason scrimmage at 4:15 p.m. Saturday in Tiger Stadium, and there will definitely be tackling. "We will have one really big one on Saturday," Miles said.
The Tigers will practice at 8:45 this morning and at 4:10 p.m. this afternoon. After a 9:50 a.m. workout Thursday, the last day of double practices will be Friday in the morning and afternoon. The scrimmage Saturday will end the preseason camp. Single practices will follow from Monday through game week. LSU opens the season on Thursday, Aug. 30, at Mississippi State on ESPN.
Miles would like his offense to be a little crisper on Saturday.
"We have to eliminate pre-snap penalties and make sure we hold on to the football," he said. "If we do those things, this offense will come on."
Miles did praise quarterback Matt Flynn and wide receiver Early Doucet, who also shined in Saturday's scrimmmage, and the defense remained dominant.
"Matt Flynn was sharp on checks and things we ask him to do," Miles said. "He made some nice throws. Doucet again was sharp, but we didn't get him the ball a tremendous number of times. Those two guys on offense were good. The defense as a group played pretty well. They ran to the football. It was hard to get yards. They seemed to have everything closely covered."
Miles and his staff continued to look at a wide array of kick and punt returners in addition to the starters, who are Doucet and Trindon Holliday. Among the returner hopefuls are true freshmen Chad Jones, Stevan Ridley and John Williams of Breaux Bridge.
"A number of guys caught the ball and returned it pretty well," he said.
Miles was not ready to put the disappointing scrimmage behind him right away.
"I am going to look forward to seeing this film and evaluate it pretty thoroughly," he said.
WILL ARNOLD PRACTICES: Senior offensive guard Will Arnold was in on 12 plays in the scrimmage after missing practice Monday as well as the Saturday scrimmage. Arnold, probably the team's best offensive lineman when at 100 percent, is being brought along slowly following knee and ankle injuries that sat him down for most of last season and all of spring.
"He played all out," Miles said. "I saw him on a couple of plays that I focused on him, and he played pretty well. We really wanted him to play just six. He ended up with 12. There are some advantages in that."
Arnold has been working at left guard. He tried right guard and tackle, but it bothered his injuries more.
Should Arnold return to the lineup, he is expected to be back at his old position of left guard. Herman Johnson, who played there last season and most of spring, would likely move to right guard ahead of Lyle Hitt. Johnson could also play right tackle, where former defensive tackle Carnell Stewart is first team.
DORSEY FINE: Senior defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who missed all of last week with a leg injury, appeared as good as new in Tuesday's scrimmage.
"He played the entire time," Miles said. "We are glad to have him back. There are no signs or wear."
INJURY REPORT: Among those held out of the scrimmage were linebackers Jacob Cutrera (arm) and Perry Riley (leg), who were both hurt Saturday, and tight end Richard Dickson, who has an undisclosed injury.
"He's going to be fine," Miles said. "We expect him back tomorrow."
Cutrera may miss the rest of the week, including Saturday's scrimmage, whereas Riley has a chance to be back this week.
Wide receiver Brandon LaFell did not miss practice Monday with an injury. He went home to Houston to attend a family funeral, Miles said.
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