LSU Football: Les Miles Not to Blame for Tigers' Implosion Against Alabama

BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU choked against Alabama, but it was not Les Miles' fault.

The Tigers were headed to another magical home victory. With a tie game late in the fourth quarter, Crimson Tide running back T.J. Yeldon coughed up a fumble that linebacker Kendell Beckwith would recover at the Alabama 6-yard line.

LSU looked invincible. Triumph was so certain that LSU public address announcer Dan Borne had to warn fans not to rush the field after the game.

But then it all fell apart.

On first down deep in Crimson Tide territory, left guard Vadal Alexander committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that would force the Tigers out of the red zone. Miles was shocked that happened.

"I am going to want to look at the personal foul down on the goal line before I comment. If one of my guys did that, I am going to tell him, and I am going to be upfront," said Miles. "That is not what I am told, so I am going to investigate because that penalty changed the complexion of the game."

Following the penalty, Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron kept it conservative with three running plays that went for a negative total. The safe play for the field goal was rewarded by Colby Delahoussaye's perfect 39-yard boot to give the Tigers a 13-10 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

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Center Elliott Porter said he was "kind of" surprised that Miles played it so safe at the end but said the Alexander penalty was devastating.

Quarterback Anthony Jennings said it was "a smart call." Jennings is right. Miles' decision to be conservative in that spot was the correct one. He could not trust his floundering quarterback, who finished 8-of-26 for 76 yards and an interception, to not make a mistake.

Miles' biggest defender, though, is also his biggest rival.

"That's probably what I'd have done. I mean, why wouldn't you?" said Alabama head coach Nick Saban. "You can be critical now, but I bet you that there was not anyone that was critical when they were ahead 13-10."

Alexander's boneheaded error was not the last of Tigers' follies. Reliable kickoff specialist Trent Domingue would shank the ensuing kickoff out of bounds to give the Crimson Tide great field position.

Still, though, LSU's defense had been dominant. Alabama quarterback Blake Sims was having one of the worst games of his career. The Crimson Tide needed to score to keep the game alive.

Unfortunately for Miles, the Tigers defense crumbled.

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Sims was brilliant, as he led a nine-play, 55-yard drive that resulted in a Adam Griffith game-tying field goal. The senior quarterback was smart and efficient, as every Crimson Tide play resulted in an immediate stoppage of the clock.

The Tigers defense committed the cardinal sin when facing a mobile quarterback, which is losing containment.

On 3rd-and-4 in Alabama territory, an unblocked, blitzing Jalen Mills allowed Sims to spin out of a sack and run for a first down. Later on the drive, again on 3rd-and-4, Sims sprung free to the right to complete 22-yard dart to Christion Jones.

The Tigers needed to make a play, but they didn't.

In overtime, Alabama marched to an easy touchdown despite two penalties by guard Levi Brown. The story was the opposite for the Tigers on their first drive. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron called four passes, all of which fell incomplete.

Yuck.

"I believe it was good passing plays, but you gotta execute. Coach Cam knows what he is doing and I believe that," said Porter.

It was tad surprising that Miles and Cameron abandoned the run. Nevertheless, Jennings and his receivers executed the plays poorly. The signal-caller had an opening to run for a first down on the game's final play but ultimately decided to heave a ball in the direction of freshman Malachi Dupre in heavy coverage.

Miles followed a coaching blueprint similar to the one used against Ole Miss. He is limited at quarterback, so he kept it a physical affair in trenches behind his offensive line and defense.

The Tigers had the football for over 16 more minutes than Alabama, which shortened the game.

Sure, some of the blame should fall on the head coach, but Miles did not complete just under one-third of his passes. Miles did not drop easy catches. Miles did not kick the ball out of bounds. Miles did not slip to cause an interception. Miles did not commit a critical penalty deep inside the opposition's red zone. Miles did not miss tackles.

"You can look at a number of ways we could have won this football game. There are things that we can control, things that we have to improve on and things that are youthful mistakes that we will certainly fix," said Miles.

The youthful Tigers committed far too many mistakes to win. Alabama had its fair share of errors too, but made the clutch plays when it mattered the most. LSU watched its rival do it with little resistance.

Miles has had some games heavily affected by coaching blunders, but to say this game was one of them would be far-fetched.

Stats, rankings and additional information provided by cfbstats.com, ESPN.com and LSU Sports Information. Recruiting information provided by 247Sports.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow me on Twitter @CarterthePower.