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September 27, 2005

Miles in the eye of the storm

By Jeff Mullin Commentary



Les Miles took over as head coach at Oklahoma State, just when the football program needed him most.

The promise of an 8-4 season in Bob Simmons' third year at the helm gave way to the disappointment of three straight losing seasons.

Miles' first team stumbled to a 4-7 mark, but he then produced three straight winning campaigns and three straight bowl trips. He could have stayed at OSU as long as he liked but instead chose to take Nick Saban's place as head coach at Louisiana State.

He might have wished he'd stayed in Stillwater.

Miles' best season at O-State, a 9-4 2003 campaign, would be grounds for firing at LSU. He went from a program struggling to find itself to one that is just a couple of years removed from a national championship.

Saban was 48-16 in his five years at LSU, after the Tigers suffered through seven losing seasons in the 1990s. Tiger fans now don't hope to win, they expect it.

Losing 30-27 in overtime to Tennessee Monday night in a game delayed by the approach of Hurricane Rita will make Miles feel he is in the eye of the storm.

The Tigers blew a 21-0 halftime lead and saw Tennessee come back to tie the score at 24 with 2:02 left. But instead of trying to move the ball and perhaps kick a game-winning field goal, Miles instead chose to run the ball, kill the clock and go to overtime. This elicited boos from many of the 91,000 Tiger faithful on hand.

LSU's second-half meltdown looked eerily familiar to Cowboy fans. Remember last year's Texas game?

The defeat seriously damaged LSU's hopes of a national championship and handed them a loss in the dog-eat-dog Southeastern Conference.

The loss also made Miles 2-5 in his last seven games. If that trend continues, Stillwater might start looking pretty good to him.



Mullin is News -- Eagle senior writer.



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