Miles: BCS title is LSU’s goal

Expectations are sky high for the upcoming LSU football season, and coach Les Miles isn’t running away from the preseason talk that the Tigers could be contenders for the BCS title. “That’s always the goal,” Miles told an overflow crowd at the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge meeting today. LSU won BCS titles after the 2003 and 2007 seasons, the last two times the championship game was played in the Superdome. This year, the game returns to New Orleans. “You play it in New Orleans, and we will come,” he says. The Tigers are set to report to preseason camp a week from today, and the first practice is set for Aug. 4. Miles says the Tigers have exactly the right mix of veteran players and young talent. Of the first two teams on the depth chart, 16 players are seniors, while 24 are freshmen and sophomores. Quarterback Jordan Jefferson is returning for his senior year, and Miles says Jefferson has clicked with new offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe. “This is his time,” Miles says. Senior Jarrett Lee and highly touted transfer Zach Mettenberger are backing up Jefferson. Miles says Tigers should be better on offense this season. The defense has to replace standouts Patrick Peterson and Kelvin Sheppard, who were both picked in the NFL Draft this spring. But Miles says the Tigers will be “very fast” and that Ryan Baker is poised to fill Sheppard’s spot at linebacker. Miles briefly mentioned the controversy over LSU’s relationship with Willie Lyles. Lyles has been under investigation by the NCAA since it was revealed Oregon paid him $25,000 shortly after Lache Seastrunk, a highly touted running back he was tied to, committed to play for the Ducks. LSU paid Lyles $6,000 for 32 scouting DVDs. Miles has said the school wanted game film of Mettenberger, who was playing football at a Kansas junior college. The school takes NCAA compliance very seriously, Miles says. “We want to do the right thing,” he says. —Timothy Boone