ARLINGTON, Texas — With rumors swirling about LSU coach Les Miles’ future, Jordan Jefferson threw three touchdown passes to Terrence Toliver and ran for a score to help the 11th-ranked Tigers rally for a 41-24 victory over No. 18 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night.
Miles is likely a leading candidate for the coaching vacancy at Michigan, where he played and was an assistant coach.
In the days leading up to the Cotton Bowl, Miles said his focus was on his Tigers and that he enjoyed where he was. But LSU (11-2) has now completed its fourth season with at least 11 wins in Miles’ six years. Previously, the Tigers had only two 11-win seasons in their history.
During the postgame celebration, Miles sang the LSU fight song loud and proud with his players. When asked after that if he’d back next season, there was a pause before Miles responded: “It’s a wonderful place. I love it here.”
Texas A&M (9-4) led 10-0 in the first quarter, including a field goal after Jefferson threw an interception, but had its six-game winning streak snapped.
Jefferson was 10-of-19 for 158 yards with scoring passes of 42, 2 and 41 yards to Toliver, who had only two TD catches in the regular season.
LSU went ahead for good when Stevan Ridley had a 17-yard TD run, jumping over a defender near the line and then sweeping right untouched into the end zone for a 21-17 lead with 4:43 left in the first half.
Ryan Tannehill, who had been 5-0 since taking over as the Aggies’ starting quarterback, then threw two interceptions in a span of three throws — after 127 consecutive attempts without a pick. The second interception was by Eric Reid, who returned it 34 yards to the 2 to set up Jefferson’s short TD pass to Toliver for a 28-17 halftime lead.
“Without question, LSU was definitely the better team,” Aggies coach Mike Sherman said. “They gave us all we could handle.”
Ridley, who was reinstated this week after an unspecified “one-time” academic violation, had 24 carries for 105 yards as LSU got its first Cotton Bowl victory in 45 years, since beating Arkansas 14-7 in 1966.
