what's wrong with just saying JJ is the starting QB and we have 2 backup QB if we need to call on them. Real simple and then we won't have the media asking the same question every week, therefore, no tiger rant.

BATON ROUGE — I knew Les Miles was a unique guy in my very first exclusive interview with him just a few days after he got the LSU football head coaching job in January of 2005.

He said he would be "deceptively honest" with matters concerning his team, particularly injuries, personnel decisions and other items with regard to strategy.

In other words, he was saying he was going to lie, but at least he was being honest about it.
That's cool. He has consistently been deceptively honest throughout his very successful run with the Tigers.

Often, I look at him closely during a press conference, which is his favorite venue at which to play with the truth.

After a particularly deceptive comment, I keep my eye on him for a moment not unlike the way Larry David eyeballs someone and tilts his head back and forth when he is suspicious in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" — the greatest TV show known to man.
And every now and then, Miles will wink. This is his subtle way of admitting he just tried to get you.

Miles never blinked or winked during his press conference Saturday night after the No. 1 Tigers went to 10-0 with a 42-9 victory over Western Kentucky.

But this was one press conference that needed Larry David in the front row.

Miles was being "deceptively honest" like it was going out of style when the subject turned to the starting and playing of quarterback Jordan Jefferson over established high quality starter Jarrett Lee for most of the game.

"It was kind of a game decision," Miles said, which means the decision was not made until the day of the game.

This may be true because LSU's sports information office said an hour before the game that Lee would start. Tiger Stadium's public address announcer listed Lee as the starting quarterback moments before the game to a loud ovation when he announced other starters. So it would follow that Miles pulled the trigger to start Jefferson moments before LSU's first possession.

After the game, one of the hosts of an LSU postgame show reported that Lee's lack of playing time against Western Kentucky may have been because of academic reasons, such as missing a class or not doing well on a test. Well then, that class or test must have been on Saturday morning because signs pointed to Lee starting until just before LSU ran out onto the field for its first possession. Lee has no classes on Saturdays.

And please, if Miles benched every player over the last seven seasons who missed a class or flubbed a test in game week, his lineup would have had more different starters than Jerry had date interests in "Seinfeld." Either that, or Miles is really searching for any reason start Jefferson over Lee.

But later Miles explained the decision to start Jefferson in this way. "It was more back end of the week," he said. "Just kind of felt like maybe even Thursday or Friday that that's the way we'd go." That would follow with the Lee academic story. Unfortunately, Miles just contradicted himself. Was it day of game or late in the week?
That's the tough thing about being "deceptively honest." It's hard keeping all the deception and honesty straight.

Then Miles said that the original plan was to insert Lee by the third series at the earliest.
"But Western Kentucky kind of proved to throw some wrinkles at us that we didn't necessarily anticipate and felt like we needed to iron out first," he said. "They came after it a little bit more early in the game. It was a little bit more blitz. And we liked Jefferson in there in that situation for ball security and his mobility."
Nevermind that Jefferson fumbled for the second time this season in the game, and his intentional grounding in his own end zone garnered a safety and could have been ruled a fumble. But that's beside the point. What Miles is saying here is that he and his coaching staff is letting a 41-point underdog with 60th defense in the nation dictate which quarterback the No. 1 team in the nation plays! Please.

Do you ever notice that when someone is lying, he or she is just full of explanations. That's because they're selling. The truth is always much simpler and needs no campaign. Lies have to be sold.

Miles was selling his decision to start Jefferson over the SEC's No. 2 quarterback in passing efficiency and play him until the game was in mop-up mode because he had no real good, truthful reason in which to play Jefferson over Lee. Other than the fact that he just wanted to play Jefferson over Lee, that is. He should have just said that and left it at that. That would have been true. And he has that right. He is a hugely successful coach who just happens to have LSU 10-0 for the first time since 1958 and on the verge of winning a third national title in nine seasons.
It's obvious Miles favors Jefferson for whatever reason. Lee outplayed Jefferson in the Tennessee and Florida games last year when Jefferson was playing consistently awful for most of last season up to that point, and Lee never got a start. Jefferson outplayed Lee in one game this season after Lee was playing better than any quarterback in the SEC except for that one game, and Jefferson gets the next start? In the end, neither is much better than the other at passing or running, so it comes down to performance this season. That's Lee clearly.

The truth about LSU's quarterbacks is out there. We just may never know it. Miles is so deceptively honest, it sounds like he's deceiving himself. In the end, none of this may matter at all.

If LSU wins the national championship, it will win it like it beat Alabama — with defense, a good running game and some passes here and there from whichever quarterback.