Guilbeau: Miles may have learned from 2011 QB decision - Shreveport Times
After LSU coach Les Miles noticed how well quarterback Zach Mettenberger played in spring drills of 2012 on the heels of how poorly quarterback Jordan Jefferson played in the Tigers’ last two games of 2011, he surely wondered, “What if. ” What if... In fact, Miles wondered that out loud at the Southeastern Conference Media Days in July of 2012 when he said he would have played Mettenberger in the 21-0 BCS national championship game loss to Alabama on Jan. Mettenberger said at the same SEC Media Days that there was no thumb injury. That was one of the strangest statements among a history of them from Miles. Why Mettenberger then after virtually no play all year. Miles probably revisited those thoughts again in the 2012 season as he watched how much Mettenberger improved over the course of that year. The improvement climaxed with a near flawless game by Mettenberger against eventual national champion Alabama that November as he hit 24 of 35 for 298 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions against the team that finished No. 1 in the nation... And in 2013, Mettenberger became just the third 3,000-yard passer in LSU history – and the first one recruited by Miles. Miles more recently had coaches’ remorse about the way he didn’t play perhaps the greatest player he ever had — cornerback/kick returner Patrick Peterson —. Source: www.shreveporttimes.com
