TIGERS CONTINUE TO PREPARE FOR ARIZONA

BATON ROUGE - As eighth-ranked LSU reached the midweek point in its preparations for Saturdays clash against Pac-10 opponent Arizona, Tiger head coach Les Miles said he likes where his team stands heading into the nationally televised contest against the Wildcats. LSU and Arizona battle in Tiger Stadium starting at 5:30 p.m. in a game televised to a national audience by ESPN2. The game will only be the third meeting between the schools with the Tigers holding a 2-0 advantage in the series. Both teams are 1-0 heading into Saturdays game. "It was a good go, a typical Wednesday practice," Miles said of his teams workout. "The players worked hard, but we still have some work to do. Thats why we have Thursdays and Fridays." Miles handed out praise to LSU junior running back Alley Broussard on the way he has approached practice this week. Broussard, who rushed for a team-high 46 yards on eight carries in the season-opener against Louisiana-Lafayette, continues to come back from a knee injury suffered last August. "I like the progress that is being made by Alley," Miles said. "It looks like he is getting better on a daily basis." Miles said he expects LSUs offensive line and the running game to be tested by a strong Arizona defense on Saturday. "I think we are making gains there," Miles said. "It (the running game) needs to be tested with a strong defense. I think this Saturday will give us a nice look at how we are progressing there. Their defensive line is big and strong and they are good at the point of attack and they also have some very good linebackers." Last week, the Tigers used a running back-by-committee approach to rush for 170 yards on 36 carries against Louisiana-Lafayette. A week ago, LSU had four running backs get at least four carries with Broussard and Justin Vincent leading the way with eight attempts each. Defensively, the Tigers have used this week to prepare for a solid quarterback in Willie Tuitama along with a big-play receiver in Syndric Steptoe. "Their quarterback can make all the throws and (Syndric) Steptoe has tremendous speed with big play capability," Miles said. The Tigers will wrap up their on-field preparations for the Wildcats on Thursday with a workout at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility followed by a walk-thru on Friday in Tiger Stadium.