No. 4 LSU 4-0, far from perfect

BATON ROUGE — LSU Coach Les Miles is trying to be fair.

Miles doesn't like the inconsistency with which the

g s have played, but he doesn't want to be too critical of a team that is 4-0 and ranked fourth in the nation, either.

"We have played four games and we have four victories," Miles said Monday. "We certainly are where we want to be. But, we certainly want to improve along the way."

The four teams LSU has played this season all are currently 2-2, and the Tigers have not had a thoroughly dominant performance against any of them. They won comfortably over Louisiana-Lafayatte, 31-3, but only one week later, the Ragin' Cajuns lost to Nebraska 55-0.

Then last Saturday, it took a late goal-line stand for LSU to escape Starkville, Miss., with a 30-26 victory.

Miles praised his defense for their game-changing plays, which also included an interception returned for a touchdown by Patrick Peterson.

The coach added, however, that the game would not have been so close if LSU's offense had been able to sustain longer drives.

One area of concern remains the Tigers running game. Running backs Keiland Williams and Charles Scott have combined for 363 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Against Mississippi State, Williams and Scott produced 35 yards on 15 carries.

"I would like to hold on to the football more," Miles said. "I still want to run the football. That's too fundamental to me not to do it."

The Bulldogs, who yielded 390 rushing yards to Auburn, were determined not to let LSU do the same and crowded the line of scrimmage.

Jordan Jefferson completed 15 of 28 passes for a career-high 233 yards and two touchdowns against Mississippi State. Those completions included three long gainers of at least 39 yards, the first real success Jefferson has had throwing deep this season.

Jefferson connected with Terrance Toliver on a 39-yard completion which led to LSU's first offensive touchdown on Brandon LaFell's 4-yard catch. Later, Jefferson found LaFell for a 58-yard scoring pass on the Tigers' first second-half snap.

LSU appeared to be in command after LaFell's score, but Mississippi State slowly clawed back and were 2 yards from a potential go-ahead score in the final minutes.

Mississippi State didn't score on four chances from there and Chad Jones made three consecutive defensive plays during that juncture.

"I don't know if I've been around a game where a team had four shots from the 2 yard-line and didn't get in," Miles said. "It came from a lot of men on those plays. Our defensive front really came on every play."