Miles doesn't mind calling big big

BATON ROUGE - Many football coaches try to tell reporters and their players that there's no such thing as a big game. "It only counts as one," they say. Then they stay in their office working on the game plan until dawn.

"If you get too high for a game, you won't play well," they say. "You can't have peaks and valleys."

Actually, you can. That's why teams try to pace their schedule. That's how LSU's schedule is paced. There have been a few easy games before LSU enters the meat of its schedule.

LSU coach Les Miles has a big game coming up Saturday as his No. 1-ranked Tigers (5-0) host No. 9 Florida (4-1) at 7:30 p.m. on CBS in Tiger Stadium. It will be the first televised night game by one of the big-three, non-cable networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) involving LSU since 1981 when No. 4 Alabama and coach Bear Bryant beat LSU 24-7 in the season opener.

This will be LSU's first game as the No. 1 team in the nation since Nov. 7, 1959.

A win will give LSU its first 6-0 start since it went 9-0 to open the 1973 season. A win will strengthen LSU's national championship hopes dramatically.

ESPN's College Game Day will be back in town for the second time in less than a month for the first time in the history of that program.

It's sort of a big game, and Miles doesn't mind saying so. And that is refreshing. It shows he is a human being and not some robot refusing to deviate from the programmed routine. It counts as one win or loss as the Tulane game did last week, but then again it really doesn't.

"I always like big games," Miles said at his press luncheon Monday. "Our guys like big games. They hurry to meetings. They hurry to practice. There's more energy about the building. I understand it only counts as one, but it'll be a lot of fun. It's what football is all about. It's what you come to LSU for."
Thanks Les for telling it like it is.