Miles A Late-Game Master?

As we wait for Les Miles to begin his meeting with the writers — he was supposed to start at 1pm ET — we steer you to an interesting stat.  Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com tweeted the following just a few minutes ago:


“Genius of Les: In last 6 years, Miles is 25-10 in games decided by 8 pts or less, nation’s best mark.”


I don’t know who did the research on that one, but I’m going to accept it rather than try to verify it.  My fingers are already numb from typing the past three days.

But the interesting thing about that stat is that it flies completely in the face of Miles’ reputation.  Does he win?  Oh, yes.  Has he got a national title?  Yep.  Is he known for his late-game clock management skills?  Absolutely not.

Maybe we should all push the 2009 Ole Miss game out of our heads.  Or try to remember that the end of the 2010 Tennessee game actually resulted in a Tiger win.

Impressive numbers.