STARKVILLE — Whether it’s eating grass or the hat he wears on the sideline, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen stopped short of saying Les Miles’ mannerisms were a act.
However, the Bulldogs’ fifth-year coach said he doesn’t let that comic book character image of Miles distract him from the LSU football team’s disciplined nature.
“I think he’s a very good coach,” Mullen said. “I think he’s got a lot of personality. I think sometimes that can come off in a different way.”
Mullen, who is 31-24 as a head coach, suggested Monday in his weekly media conference that his mannerisms might be a bigger deal in a bigger media spotlight.
“We all have our quirks,” Mullen said. “I chew my game plan (the laminated play sheet) sometimes. I wear a visor, so I guess I have my quirks. You look at the success he’s had. To be in this league as long as he’s been, it shows the type of coach that he is.”
MSU (2-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) will play host to No. 10 LSU (4-1, 1-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) at Davis Wade Stadium. LSU, which lost to Georgia 44-41 in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, comes to Starkville with a 20-1 record under Miles in games following a loss. Only once in nine years under Miles have the Tigers dropped back-to-back games (2008 –Ole Miss, Arkansas).
Miles is 54-4 against unranked teams at LSU and Mullen is 0-8 all-time against top-10 opponents. LSU has won 13 straight and 20 of last 21 against MSU. The last time MSU beat LSU was a 17-16 victory in 1999 in Starkville.
“There’s not a chance we’ll be looking ahead,” Miles said Monday. “(MSU) is a program, like most college programs, when they get to the end of the week, they really need to have victory. The work they put in is so significant, this will not be a difficult week for us to get our eyes open to how quality the opponent is.”
Mullen remembers coaching LSU QB Zach Mettenberger in a high school football camp when he was an assistant coach at Florida. Mettenberger, with a new offensive coordinator in Cam Cameron, has 13 touchdowns, which is one more than he threw in 13 games a year ago. His total of 13 touchdown passes ranks second in the SEC, and seventh nationally. He was 23 of 37 for a career-best 372 yards and three touchdowns against Georgia.
“It was clear then that he was a guy that would have major recruiting talent with a big arm coming from a high school program that was sophisticated in throwing the football,” Mullen said. “He has proved all those experts correct now that he’s comfortable with what he’s doing in LSU’s offense.”
“They still are a power running team. They have two NFL wide receivers with a NFL quarterback with a big arm that can get them the ball. It’s a dilemma of how do you stop the power run and then make sure they’re not getting out to the perimeter. When you leave them one-on-one, they’re very dangerous in the pass game.”
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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