BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU’s 2011 season will be remembered for challenging Les Miles’ crisis-management skills over and over again.
It could also go down as the greatest season in the history of a program that has been around since 1893.
Now within one more victory of an unbeaten season and a BCS national title, Miles has been voted The Associated Press Coach of the Year.
Thirty of 56 votes cast went to Miles. Bill Snyder of Kansas State was second with 16, Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State had six, Brady Hoke of Michigan got three and Lane Kiffin of Southern California had one.
However LSU’s season ends in the BCS title game against No. 2 Alabama on Jan. 9 in the Superdome, it will go down as one of the more memorable chapters in the history of Louisiana’s most storied college football program. The events that could have derailed the 2011 campaign were numerous and diverse, yet the Tigers dominated just about every team they faced.
Of their 13 victories, 12 have come by double digits and seven by 30 or more points. The lone exception was a tense 9-6 overtime triumph at Alabama highlighted by spectacular defensive plays.