Tigers regroup after loss

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 10, 2009 - Page: 1C

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For eight games this fall, the LSU football team lived a rather charmed life and steered clear of damaging injuries to major players.

The one exception was versatile running back Richard Murphy, whose season ended with a compound knee injury Sept. 12.

Other than that, though, the Tigers had navigated the season with an uncanny level of good health.

Then they went to Alabama.

Now, No. 9-ranked LSU heads into the final three games of its season with plenty of shifting and rotating to be done at several key positions.

The Tigers (7-2) began preparations for Louisiana Tech (3-6) with a respected senior running back out for the season, the starting quarterback gimpy with a sprained ankle, and the status of a steady senior tight end still murky.

Besides Charles Scott’s regular-season-ending broken collarbone and Jordan Jefferson’s sprained ankle, several other players got banged up in a 24-15 loss to the Crimson Tide.

None of those players are expected to miss any time.

LSU coach Les Miles said Jefferson should return to practice Wednesday and thinks Dickson could also return to work this week.

“It appears that Jordan Jefferson will be fine,” Miles said. “We expect him to be with us this week.

“There are some bumps and bruises, but nothing that appears to be really long-reaching. We expect Richard Dickson to return to practice some time this week. With exception and certainly the healing process to take place, we feel like we’ll have our team back this week as we prepare.”

The obvious hole to fill is at running back, but the uncertainty at quarterback and tight end will also have to be addressed this week.

Replacing Scott is a tricky chore not only because of what he contributed on the field, but also because of his leadership.