BATON ROUGE, La. -- Let’s get one thing straight: Les Miles didn’t lose his job at LSU because he was unable to beat Alabama. The Tigers’ five-game losing streak against Alabama under Miles -- which grew to six after his midseason dismissal -- was one symptom of a problem, not a root cause.
That said, Miles’ successor Ed Orgeron knows that turning around the series against the SEC’s premier program is imperative if he is to prosper as the Tigers’ new coach.
“You are judged by that game,” Orgeron said Saturday at the press conference announcing that LSU would elevate him from interim coach to full-time head coach.