Miles releases depth chart for season opener against Oregon

LSU coach Les Miles is beginning to cross the t's and dot the i's for his opening day roster Saturday.

Miles released a depth chart Wednesday for the showdown against No. 3 Oregon, with a few surprises.

Senior offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert is listed as the starting left guard in place of injured senior left guard Josh Dworaczyk, but Miles said freshman La'El Collins will also see action.

"They had a good practice [Wednesday]," Miles said. "I think Collins will play some, but I think T-Bob will probably be that guy."

Miles said during his radio show Wednesday night he is considering redshirting Dworaczyk.

With junior wide receiver Russell Shepard suspended for the game, sophomore wideout Kadron Boone is listed as his replacement, with true freshman Odell Beckham, Jr. marked as the third receiver. Junior wide receiver Rueben Randle is the No. 1 receiver.

Miles listed sophomore Tyrann Mathieu as the second cornerback, despite previously stating sophomore cornerback Tharold Simon would start opposite junior cornerback Morris Claiborne.

TIGERS VOTE LEE AS CAPTAIN SATURDAY

The football team voted on four captains for the season opener - senior quarterback Jarrett Lee, senior linebacker Ryan Baker, senior safety Brandon Taylor and senior deep snapper Joey Crappell.

"I think it's pretty obvious that [Lee] is a great teammate," Miles said. "It's part of the package. He had an overwhelming vote for the offensive side. I think his team has confidence in him."

After a hectic week of investigations that led to the suspension of senior quarterback Jordan Jefferson, Miles had the daunting task of maintaining the team's focus leading up to Saturday's headliner.

"I don't know that I did a very good job. We'll have to see," Miles said. "We second guess a lot as coaches. There's a bunch of ways in my opinion that we could have done better. By and large it's a really quality football team, quality young people."

MILES WELCOMES AGGIE MOVE TO SEC

Texas A&M notified the Big-12 Conference on Wednesday that it will withdraw from the conference and submit and application to join another conference. If the application is accepted, the Aggies will leave the Big 12 on June 30, 2012.

Texas A&M met with Southeastern Conference officials in July, and that seems to be the likely destination.

Miles, whose Tigers beat Texas A&M in the 2011 Cotton Bowl, said the potential move "gives some advantages" to the SEC.

"I think it's certainly an interesting view of our conference and it gives us a Texas draw," Miles said. "Certainly you would think that the Texas student-athletes will have an opportunity to see themselves attending SEC schools, and hopefully this will give some opportunity to be even more serious about those guys that are participating in football in Texas."

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Contact Mark Clements at mclements@lsureveille.com