In it for something greater: LSU football coach Les Miles says that heading into Saturday’s home game against No. 1 Alabama, his team is not focused on the Tigers’ 21-0 loss at the BCS Championship Game Jan. 9 and that revenge will not serve as a motivating factor in this contest. “I am not motivated that way. That’s not how this thing works,” Miles says. “This is about what we do and how we play. Did we play our best? No, but we can play our best. We have played our best. If you look at the record, we’ve played pretty well. I think this is a different team and a different year, yet we recognize the last time we played them. I think our guys are good. There are a lot of things that motivate men, but I don’t choose, nor will I ever choose, revenge.” Read more about the Tigers’ preparations for Saturday night’s matchup here.
In their sights: It’s no secret that LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger has been a little inconsistent in his first season. But, as the Birmingham News reports, you won’t hear that from an Alabama defensive back. “Great quarterback, a big-armed quarterback, does a lot of great things throwing the ball,” says Dee Milliner, the Crimson Tide’s star junior cornerback. “He does a great job of operating and knowing what the defense does and hits the key holes on pass plays. He’s checking a lot and doing some great things. We’ve got to come in and try to throw some different things at him, different schemes to try to mix him up.” See a video of Milliner talking about Alabama’s preparations for Mettenberger here.
Checking it out: There will be a plethora of high-profile football recruits at LSU’s game against Alabama on Saturday. On the list being compiled by The Times-Picayune are LSU commitments including Logan Stokes, a tight end from Northeast Mississippi Community College; Rashard Robinson, a cornerback from Blanche Ely High School, Fla.; Hayden Rettig, a quarterback from Cathedral High School in Los Angeles; and Lewis Neal, a defensive end from James Hunt High School in Wilson, N.C. For the complete list, “which undoubtedly will be updated right up until game day,” as The Times-Picayune notes, click here.
Swish! First-year coach Johnny Jones made a huge splash today as LSU won a national recruiting battle for Baton Rouge-native Jarrell Martin, a five-star, 6’9″, 220-pound prospect ranked by most national recruiting services as one of the top 15 players in the country. SB Nation reports LSU beat out schools like Alabama, UCLA, St. John’s, Texas A&M and Louisville, and landed a huge victory for a program that has struggled to keep in-state talent at home in the last decade. Read the full story here.
Editor’s note: Daily Report is compiling a list of endorsements for candidates in the East Baton Rouge Parish mayoral, Public Service Commission District 2 and Louisiana Supreme Court 5th District races. You can check it out here; and if your association or organization has an endorsement in one of these races you’d like to share, please email it to ssanoski@businessreport.com.
