Sports - Colleges - LSU

Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

Miles embraces break from SEC play, prepares for Tulane

BATON ROUGE, La. — Les Miles says time is LSU’s ally as the No. 9 Tigers prepare for the final three games of their Southeastern Conference schedule.

The Tigers (6-1) get a break from conference play on Saturday night when they host struggling Tulane (2-5), a team coming off a 43-6 loss at Southern Mississippi.

Miles says he understands it will be tough for his players not to think about their date with second-ranked Alabama on Nov. 7. He says the best thing the Tigers can do is understand they must be dominant against Tulane and continue to improve coming off their 31-10 victory over Auburn last weekend.

Miles says he was pleased with the progress he saw against Auburn and that his team understands its destiny remains in its own hands.

Meanwhile, LSU linebacker Harry Coleman has been named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week following his performance against Auburn on Saturday.

Coleman, a senior from Baldwin, had nine tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles in the 31-10 LSU win. LSU capitalized on both of Coleman’s forced fumbles -- scoring a touchdown following the first one and then kicking a field goal after the second one to take a 17-0 lead at halftime.

Coleman also added a pass breakup and finished with 2.5 tackles totaling 18-yards in losses.

For the game, LSU’s defense limited Auburn to just 193 total yards, including 42 total yards in the first half. Auburn entered the contest ranked second in the SEC in scoring offense, total offense and rushing offense.