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Miles looks for improvement from Lee as LSU hosts Troy

Nov 15, 2008 - 11:25 AM Troy (6-3) at (20) LSU (6-3), 8:00 pm EST

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- Jarrett Lee knows he has to bounce back from the worst performance of his young career. And Louisiana State coach Les Miles evidently is going to stick with the struggling quarterback.

Lee and the 20th-ranked Tigers look to rebound from a heartbreaking loss Saturday night when they host Troy.

A redshirt freshman, Lee has shown flashes of potential but also has been prone to mistakes. The Texas native has thrown 14 interceptions, including a season-high four in last weekend's 27-21 overtime loss to top-ranked Alabama.

"I think he can play better than he played, simply put," Miles said. "I thought that he gave his team a chance to win."

The Tigers (6-3) owned a 14-7 lead late in the first half when Lee threw his second interception, which Rashad Johnson returned 54 yards for a game-tying touchdown.

Lee's last pick, also to Johnson, came on LSU's overtime possession.

The unbeaten Crimson Tide capitalized on the opportunity, winning the game on John Parker Wilson's 1-yard quarterback keeper to win the SEC West and remain atop the BCS standings.

"You have to bounce back from losses like this," Lee said. "We are going to bounce back because we have a lot of football still to play."

Following the loss to rival Alabama, guided by former LSU coach Nick Saban, speculation arose that Miles might replace Lee with freshman Jordan Jefferson.

"We ask (Lee) to perform and maybe continue to ask him to do too much," Miles said. "We are still going to throw it. We are still at our best when he is throwing the ball to our playmakers."

Miles admitted Monday that he was strongly considering a quarterback rotation with Jefferson, claiming that Lee played better in a similar system earlier this year with Andrew Hatch.

"(Lee) is young, and maybe we need to get him off the field a little bit," Miles said. "Maybe we'll spell him with Jefferson. We'll see how Jordan Jefferson is doing and how he performs.

"I think that Lee performed probably best when it was Hatch and him, and he was spelled for a pretty routine basis. It gave him a chance to clear his head and go back on the field and play. That might be the recipe we are looking for, and we are going to try that."

Whoever lines up under center for the Tigers should be aided by bruising running back Charles Scott, who ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday.

The fourth-leading rusher in the SEC, Scott has 981 yards and 13 TDs on the ground this year.

The Tigers' only losses this season have been to Alabama, Florida and Georgia - widely considered the top three teams in the SEC.

LSU figures to have an easier time Saturday against Troy (6-3), which has lost its only two games against BCS conference opponents this season.

The Trojans, who currently are second in the Sun Belt Conference, became bowl eligible last weekend with a 17-7 victory over Western Kentucky.

Levi Brown passed for 298 yards and two touchdowns while DuJuan Harris rushed for 101 yards for Troy, which already has suffered losses at the hands of Ohio State and Oklahoma State this season.

Saturday's contest will be a make-up of a game originally scheduled for September 6. The game was re-scheduled after Hurricane Gustav ravaged Baton Rouge the previous weekend.

LSU won its only previous meeting with Troy, posting a 24-20 victory here in October 2004.