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The Les Miles (farewell?) tour continued Saturday night as the LSU Tigers got back on track with a 19-7 win over Texas A&M. The game was far from outstanding, but the Tigers clinched the victory with a Leonard Fournette touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. If anything, the game ended up exactly what Miles probably wanted it to be: won with a power run game and defense.
While rumors have swirled for the last two weeks regarding Miles' status and potential of future employment at LSU and after an emotional week, the rumor mill seemed to settle Saturday on -- well, who knows? After the game, however, the status seemed a bit more transparent.
"I want to make it clear that Les Miles is our football coach and will continue to be our football coach," #LSU AD Joe Alleva said.
— LSU Football (@LSUfball) November 29, 2015
On the field, the game's scoring was opened with a Trent Dominique field goal on the Tigers' first drive of the game. Christian Kirk fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Dominique added on a second try for an early 6-0 lead. The wheels would come off for Dominique, however, as he would miss his next three attempts, including a 25-yarder in the second quarter.
Texas A&M started Kyle Allen and he was held in check, with 161 yards on 15-of-28 passing with a touchdown and an interception. This game will do nothing to quell the calls for Jake Spavital's job from the Aggie faithful, as A&M only mustered 250 yards against an LSU defense which had struggled at times against the passing game the past few weeks. The Aggies' only score came late in the second quarter, when they took a 7-6 lead after Allen threw to Ricky Seals-Jones to cap an 80-yard drive and the most successful drive of the night for Kevin Sumlin's squad.
Derrius Guice offered LSU a spark in the second half as he returned the opening kickoff 75 yards to the Texas A&M 25, but two short runs, a penalty and a Myles Garrett sack of Brandon Harris ended the drive quickly. Dominique would then miss his final attempt of the evening to keep the Tigers down by a point. After an A&M drive also resulted in a missed field goal, Guice responded with a 50-yard touchdown run on an end around to give the Tigers the lead for good.
After the game, Miles was carried off the field by his players with the look of a coach who was retiring. With the majority of the crowd chanting their support for Miles and the support shown by his players to rally behind their coach, the tide seems to be turning against LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva instead of Miles, and a power play could take place over the next few weeks. Given the youth the Tigers played with this season, another year only seems right.