Call Les Miles whatever you want to call him. He told ESPN tonight that he doesn't like the nickname "Mad Hatter," but you can call him that. You can call him an idiot. You can call him a savant. But you have to call him 6-0 and the leader in the SEC West.
It was, really, the perfect end to a topsy-turvy day for the entire league. Auburn had just finished a last-minute win against Kentucky to remain one of the only undefeated teams still standing in the SEC. South Carolina had knocked off Alabama earlier in the day to end the Tide's 19-game winning streak.
All we needed to know was what would happen in Gainesville, where undefeated LSU was down 29-26 with little time left. (Doesn't every LSU game with Les Miles coaching come down to the final minute?) With less than three-and-a-half minutes left, Florida had taken the three-point lead. Now, LSU was driving and was close enough to try the 53-yards field goal. Les Miles called his final timeout in an apparent effort to avoid more late-game chaos.
Or not. LSU was really about to call for the same fake field goal play that had scored a touchdown against South Carolina in 2007 and helped give Les Miles his reputation as a riverboat gambler. This time, though, it momentarily appeared to not work. The pitch hit the ground -- and then bounced into the hands of kicker Josh Jasper, who picked up the first down. The play was reviewed for nearly four minutes to make sure that it was a lateral, and it stood.
Jarrett Lee then completed a 28-yard pass to Terrence Toliver, followed a couple of plays later by a three-yard touchdown pass to Toliver. LSU won. So everyone's going to laugh at Les Miles again, but he's now in a prime position to be the one who laughs last.