• By GARY LANEY
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 8, 2009

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Saturday could have been Les Miles’ day.

Instead, it was Mark Ingram’s.

It was all there for the LSU coach. He led by five points in the fourth quarter of Alabama’s 24-15 win.

How huge would a win have been for Miles? It would have made him the third LSU coach to win 50 career games. It would have kept LSU very much alive in the national championship race. And it would have gotten the Nick Saban monkey off his back once and for all.

If his team would have knocked off the undefeated, third-ranked Crimson Tide Saturday and stayed in the title race, there would have been no whispering about “Yeah, but those are Saban’s recruits.” He could have won with his players and best of all, he would have done all that against Saban.

Instead, he’s going to get second-guessed all week, heck, maybe until Alabama comes to town next year. Just like the losing coach always gets second-guessed, especially at LSU.

Let’s start here.

When LSU went up 15-10 with 3:19 left in the third quarter after Stevan Ridley’s 8-yard touchdown run, the Tigers probably should not have gone for two in an effort to make it a seven-point game.

By doing so and failing, it meant the Southeastern Conference’s best field-goal kicking team could beat LSU with two field goals. It also meant that the third of Alabama’s field goals Saturday — giving the Tide 23 on the year — gave them an insurmountable nine-point lead with 3:04 left.

Had the Tigers kicked the extra point to go up 16-10, Alabama would have kicked an extra point after Julio Jones’ touchdown to go up 20-16 instead of going for two to take a 21-15 lead. And that means Leigh Tiffin’s 40-yard field goal with 3:04 left would have made it 23-16 and LSU would have had a shot to tie at the end.

So start your second-guessing with that. Just don’t get carried away.

If LSU had gone up 16-10, it doesn’t mean the Tigers would have won. LSU still would have had to drive to win at the end without injured stars Jordan Jefferson and Charles Scott.

If anything, Miles is a little unlucky today. Unlucky that Patrick Peterson, also fighting injury, wasn’t in the game when Alabama threw a bubble screen that turned into a 73-yard touchdown for Julio Jones. Unlucky that officials didn’t rule in Peterson’s favor in his near-interception in the fourth quarter — he looked inbounds to me. And he was unlucky an LSU team that had been healthy all season picked Saturday to become fragile.