Miles lets loss sink in

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Oct 13, 2008 - UPDATED: 7:25 a.m.

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Mistakes are sometimes tough, although not impossible, to identify and mend when a talented football team gets pummeled like LSU did by Florida Saturday night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

That will be the immediate and pressing focus for LSU coach Les Miles and his staff today when the Tigers begin — and end — the recovery process and start looking ahead to another Southeastern Conference road trip.

The Tigers’ 51-21 loss was decided so early that it didn’t seem to be a major shock to Miles. He basically had the entire fourth quarter to digest what went wrong with his team.

“We didn’t play as well as we’re capable at several spots and in all three phases,” Miles said Sunday. “That’s my job to get fixed. I didn’t anticipate it and going in I was very confident that we would play well.”

Miles’ confidence, along with the LSU  players, evaporated with three offensive series to start the night that won’t be found on any postseason highlight collections.

LSU went three-and-out on its first two series and quarterback Jarrett Lee threw the first of two interceptions on the third.

The grand total of seven snaps from scrimmage and two punts netted 4 yards in the opening 15 minutes.

While the Tigers (4-1, 2-1 SEC) couldn’t get the offense into gear, Florida (5-1, 3-1) churned out three scoring drives, 186 yards and 10 first downs in the opening period.

A big part of the Gators’ success was LSU’s problems matching up well on defense. But Miles said the offense’s futility also played a part.

“If we’re moving the football on offense, even if we’re punting it, they don’t have the opportunity to score that fast,” Miles said. “It just takes time in between, we have time to get adjustments talked about as opposed to getting right back on the field again.”

By the time the Tigers offense got its footing, LSU was staring up from the bottom of a 20-0 cavern — which loomed even larger with the raucous Swamp crowd revved up.

Besides the quick-fire start, a handful of plays and near misses also tormented the Tigers.

• Down 10-0, LSU was ready to buckle down when it sacked Florida quarterback Tim Tebow on first down and limited Chris Rainey to a 2-yard gain on second-and-13. But LSU defensive tackle Charles Alexander was flagged for a facemask on the tackle of Rainey, giving the Gators a first down instead of third-and-11.
• Later in the same drive, LSU stiffened when Florida got to the 7 and had first-and-goal. On third down from the 2-yard line, a delay of game on the Gators pushed the ball back to the 7 for third down, but Tebow zipped a pass to Percy Harvin in the end zone for a 17-0 cushion.
• Just when it looked the Tigers offense had come to life, Andrew Hatch clanged the ball off of Charles Scott’s shoulder pad on a third-and-2 run. A.J. Jones pounced on the loose ball.
• LSU was back in the game 20-14 after ending the first half with a 2-minute TD drive and opening the third with a long march.

Needing a defensive stop to keep the comeback alive, the Tigers forced Florida into third-and-3 from the Gators 40. LSU called a defensive timeout to make sure it had the right alignment but then allowed Tebow to pound out 4 yards on a draw. Five plays later he dashed around the left end for a 2-yard TD that nudged the Gators’ advantage to 27-14.