Re: SIAP....Another autopsy of AJ to TJ from the corndog side...
I think this analysis reinforces the idea that Les Miles attempted to throw an "anonymous" player under the bus rather than open himself (and, in part, his staff) up to further criticism. With the tension below the surface that Les is simply a strategic idiot, played up by the national media even to Les' face, Miles did not want to throw any gas on the fire that he may have once again been outsmarted by Saban in the most critical moment of battle.
Les would have been better off to tell the truth: Bama dialed up the perfect play call against the defensive play that was on. It wasn't like LSU had the field goal unit out there to defend a Hail Mary play. The fact is, the strategic advantage was slight - the play happened to go toward the blitz and all players in the secondary were locked up elsewhere. Even at that, a superior athlete (Yeldon) had to make men miss to score. There's no shame in that. But, Les would rather throw his "unknown" player out there to take the heat, when it doesn't take much more than a casual fan to analyze the tape of what really happened. Not to mention that the player he's blaming (the specifics of which are more than known among the LSU team) may be the best LBer to ever come thru LSU and also a player who had a pretty darn good showing against Bama up to that point. Short of calling his name and number, I don't know if Les could make a statement that does more to undermine the trust between him and his players.
The cynicism of today's media and fans causes everyone to roll their eyes when a coach falls on his sword and says, "It wasn't the players, it was me. I failed this team." We all know the players are the ones that have to execute. But, to me, it is a character flaw in a coach that won't protect his kids from the criticism of the outside world. It is the most indicative characteristic of an "every-man-for-himself", "save my own butt" mentality - which will eventually be a cancer among any organization trying to operate as a cohesive team.