LSU coach Les Miles gave his take yesterday on Alabama's third-ranked football team. And while much of it was the predictable, standard coachspeak that you'll often hear before a big showdown between two top 10 teams, it was interesting that Miles deemed the Tide's Mark Ingram to be "as good a tailback as we've faced or will face."
Miles also pointed out that Ingram is from Flint, Mich.
"I wish he would have stayed in the Midwest," Miles quipped.
Here's the entire statement from "The Hat" ...
"Alabama is a very good football team. Coach Saban has done a very good job there. They've gotten better every time we've seen them on film. Offensively, they are averaging 31 points and 410 yards per game. They can run the football very well. Mark Ingram is a great back. ... They have a quarterback (Greg McElroy) who makes smart decisions. He's thrown nine touchdowns and three interceptions. He manages the game very well for them. I think they have a great receiver in Julio Jones, who is really one of the best receivers in the country. He has 20 catches for 230 yards or so and one touchdown, but they spread the ball around, and that's smart. At least six players have 10 catches."
"Defensively, they rank in the top-five nationally in every statistical category. They are very talented. Of course, everyone knows about Terrence Cody. He's a big-time playmaker. He blocks field goals. He's a tremendous force in the center of the defense. Linebacker Rolando McClain leads the team in tackles and just seems to always be around the ball. On special teams, the defensive back that they have playing for them, (Javier) Arenas has 45 tackles, eight tackles for loss and four sacks, but his impact is not only on the defensive side, but he's also a tremendous return man. He's averaging 16 yards on punt returns and 27 yards on kickoff returns. Special teams, like the rest of their team, is very good and well-coached and productive.
"We enjoy going to Bryant-Denny Stadium. It's one of the finest collegiate venues in the country. It has a great gameday atmosphere. I think this team that we play is very talented and very well-coached. There are no weaknesses. This will be a great challenge for our football team. Our football team will look forward to that, and we'll look forward to that matchup.
Since I've been here, we've enjoyed games of significance. This certainly is that."