Les Miles has a problem. A quarterback problem.

Through the first four weeks of the 2010 season, LSU ranks 111th in total passing — just one spot above Air Force’s option offense. Jordan Jefferson has not played up to his potential, forcing Miles to play backup Jarrett Lee against West Virginia.

“I think LSU is a very good defensive football team,” said former West Virginia head coach Don Nehlen on Monday’s conference call. “It’s obvious to me they have major problems at quarterback. I think they’re not sure what they want to do offensively.”

Former Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Ross said he watched the LSU-West Virginia game very closely. He and Nehlen agree.

“They can run the ball very well and they are really solid defensively, but they have a quarterback problem,” Ross said. “It’s never good when you’re switching your quarterbacks in and out trying to find the right guy.”

Despite their struggles, LSU moved up three spots to No. 11 in the Legends Poll this week. Nehlen and Ross aren’t too sure the Tigers will stay there if they continue their up-and-down play.

“I think LSU is a good football team, but I certainly can’t hang the tag of a great squad on them,” Nehlen said. “To be honest, I thought West Virginia should have won the game. But defensively, they’re dad gum good.”

Nehlen says that West Virginia could have beaten LSU had they capitalized on their scoring opportunities. The Mountaineers also lost Noel Devine for a stretch during the game, which hurt the team a bit according to Nehlen. But he added that LSU’s shutdown defense was just too good.

“West Virginia was going to spread the ball around because they have a lot of playmakers,” Nehlen said.  “Smith is an excellent passer, but he didn’t have any time to throw the football. They got so much pressure on him, he wasn’t nearly as accurate as he’s been in the past. But teams they have played in the past weren’t any LSU.”

No team in the country has played in more bruising, physical games thus far in the season than Auburn. The Tigers have started out 4-0 (2-0 SEC), squeezing out victories over Mississippi State, Clemson and South Carolina. With those victories, Auburn has moved up the ranks to No. 13 in the Legends Poll. Auburn legend Pat Dye answered some questions about his former team on Monday’s Legends Poll conference call.

LP: Pat, how has Auburn impressed you and improved over the last few weeks?

Dye: Talent-wise, I think they are in pretty good shape. They got the freshman tailback that’s kind of feeling his way along. He had a better game against South Carolina, and they gave him the ball a lot more. He rushed for more than 100 yards. The offensive line played much better than it did against Clemson.

LP: What’s been the reason for all of the close games?

Dye: Defensively, they’re stopping the run but getting killed with the pass. I like the team, but the thing that stands out to me is they have made every game they have played close with mistakes. They’ve gotten penalties, turned the ball over and stopped themselves. The quarterback is not necessarily the one making the mistakes.

LP: What has changed with this team from last year to this year?

Dye: The one thing that has changed with Auburn is winning games on defense late in the game. They won the Mississippi State, Clemson and South Carolina games all on defense late in the game. That is something that last year, Auburn would have lost all three ballgames, because they couldn’t stop anybody late in the game due to lack of depth. This year they’re playing eight folks up front and the front four on defense is pretty good.

LP: Switching gears, what did you think of Steve Spurrier’s decision to lift quarterback Stephen Garcia and put in freshman Connor Shaw late in the fourth quarter after seeing no action to that point in the game?

Dye: Steve’s always had a tendency to move quarterbacks around and change them up like that. He’s had his own philosophy and you can’t argue with it because he’s been successful. Saturday night, Garcia fumbled twice and the freshman came in and threw two interceptions. They turned it over four times in the fourth quarter.

Vince Dooley: I think Garcia drives Spurrier crazy. He teases him the whole time — I’ve said that before. After he fumbled the ball twice and gotten knocked pretty hard — which is a tribute to Auburn’s defense — I think that’s what frustrated Spurrier.

LP: Can Auburn win the SEC West this year?

Dye: I think that they compete with anybody in the conference — including Alabama — if quit making mistakes. Now I said ‘compete’ with Alabama, I didn’t say they are going to beat them.

LP: Quarterback Cam Newton has made a huge difference for Auburn this year. What are your thoughts on his play so far?

Dye: He’s playing lights out. I haven’t said anything much about him. But he’s 6’6”, 250, and can run fast. And he’s not afraid either. He’s a big Tebow is what he is — and faster. He’s brought them back from the dead in the second half against Clemson and South Carolina.

Former UCLA head coach Terry Donahue was very impressed with his former team’s defeat of then-No. 7 Texas. He was most impressed by how they beat the Longhorns. UCLA racked up over 250 rushing yards on a team that was leading the nation in rush defense. Listen to his thoughts below from Monday’s conference call.

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For most pollsters, including the Legends Coaches, there’s little debate over who is No. 1.

Top-ranked Alabama went into Fayetteville and ripped the hearts out of the Arkansas faithful, just as they’ve done to every other team during their current 18-game winning streak. The Crimson Tide came from behind and prevailed, 24-20, over Arkansas and was ranked No. 1 in this week’s Legends Poll, receiving all but one first-place votes.

No. 2 Ohio State, however, has yet to truly be tested in 2010. The Buckeyes only ranked opponent — Miami — proved to be no contest.

“It’s going to take a good team to beat them,” Legend John Cooper said on Monday’s conference call. “Their special teams are getting better, they play good defense and they can throw it a little bit.

“But Ohio State is having a little bit of trouble running the ball. Their staff is higher on their running backs than I am.”

Cooper says that it’s tough to compare the top two teams because Alabama has faced tougher opponents, but he thinks that Alabama is superior.

“I think Alabama has more speed on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “They have more lineman, big physical defensive lineman. I just don’t think that Ohio State has the defensive talent that Alabama has.

“And I tell you what. I’ve taken teams over there to Fayetteville, and you’re talking about a tough place to play. For Alabama to come back and win that game, I put them at No. 1 in the country.”

NEWPORT BEACH, Ca. – UCLA’s Akeem Ayers has been named the Lott IMPACT Player of the Week.

Ayers, a 6-4, 252-pound redshirt junior from Los Angeles (Ver- bum Dei High), had an interception (returned for 13 yards), a forced fumble, a sack and another tackle for a loss in the Bruins’ big upset win over Texas, 34-12.

“Akeem Ayers is one of the dominant defensive players in the country,” said former UCLA Coach Terry Donahue. “He continues week in and week out to make plays for UCLA. His play against Texas was outstanding.”

Ayers has two interceptions this season and six for his career. He is third on the Bruins in tackles with 29 and leads the team with tackles for loss with 5 1⁄2.

A history major at UCLA, Ayers has been on the Directors Honor Roll.

He plays both linebacker and defensive end in the Bruins’ defen- sivescheme: “Playingbothendandlinebackerputsmemoreinaposi- tion where I can make plays all over the field,” he says.

UCLA will receive $1,000 for its general scholarship fund in rec- ognition of Ayers’ achievement.

Other players nominated for the IMPACT Player of the Week were Greg Jones of Michigan State, Jeremy Beal of Oklahoma, Tejay Johnson of TCU and Mark Barron of Alabama.

Named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, the Lott is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.            Now in its seventh year, the Lott is the first college football award to equally rec- ognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation in New- port Beach, the award is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity,

Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.

Past winners of The Lott IMPACT Trophy:

2004 – David Pollack, Georgia 2005 – DeMeco Ryans, Alabama 2006 – Dante Hughes, California 2007 – Glenn Dorsey, LSU 2008 – James Laurinaitis, Ohio State 2009 – Jerry Hughes, TCU

In six years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has donated more than $750,000 to various charities, including $25,000 to each of the winners’ universities.

Voters for the award include selected members of the national me- dia, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the IMPACT Founda- tion, the IMPACT Foundation Board of Advisors comprised of retired NFL players and the Legends Coaches, a distinguished group of for- mer college head coaches.

Named after Pro Football Hall of Fame member, Ronnie Lott, The Lott IMPACT Trophy is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Founded in 2004 by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, The Lott is the first and only college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player. The Lott is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity, Maturity, Per- formance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. Voters for the award in- clude selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation and the Legends Coaches which is a distinguished group of former college football head coaches. The seventh annual Lott IMPACT Trophy dinner will be held December 12th at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California. For more information on The Lott Trophy visit: www.lottimpacttrophy.com.

The Lott Shots features the Top 5 bone-crushing hits from Week 4. The Legends Channel rated Tennessee DE Chris Walker No. 1 this week.

What do you think?

Watch the video and vote for your favorite hit by Monday Oct. 6.

The top vote-getter will be named the Lott Shot of the week!

Texas is ranked outside the top 10 for the first time since 2007.

The Longhorns fell 12 spots to No. 19 in the Legends Poll after a crushing home loss to UCLA. UCLA rushed for 264 yards against the Longhorns’ top-ranked run defense and rolled, 34-12.

“Texas has struggled running the football all year,” said former Texas A&M head coach R.C. Slocum, “but I’m shocked that their defense played so poorly against UCLA.”

(Click here to view R.C. Slocum’s Top 25 ballot)

Texas’ loss may take some luster off of next weekend’s Red River showdown against Oklahoma, which dropped two spots to No. 10 this week.

Alabama stayed atop the rankings after a come-from-behind victory at No. 15 Arkansas. The Crimson Tide received 18 first-place votes, and the other went to No. 2 Ohio State.

The rest of the top 5 remained the same: Boise State, Oregon and TCU.

Michigan State was the only newcomer to the poll, debuting at No. 23, replacing idle Clemson.

Click here for the complete Legends Poll Top 25

West Virginia has been living on the edge.

The Mountaineers escaped in overtime over Marshall, 24-21, and were unimpressive against Maryland, defeating the Terps 31-17. But West Virginia hopes to right the ship this weekend at LSU.

“I think that West Virginia hasn’t played very well, but I think they’re pretty darn good,” said former West Virginia head coach Don Nehlen. “They’ve got some really good skill kids and their quarterback is playing lights out and he’s just a young kid.”

Sophomore quarterback Geno Smith has connected on 70 percent of his passes through the first three games, amassing 800 yards passing and seven touchdowns. And, of course, Smith has Noel Devine on his side posing as a big play threat.

Nehlen has not been overly impressed with the LSU offense thus far.

“It looks to me like LSU is a great defensive football team,” Nehlen said. “Offensively, I think West Virginia has a chance to rattle the quarterback, (Jordan Jefferson).”

However, Jefferson might not be the only player to get rattled in Baton Rouge on Saturday night. The LSU faithful have been known to be a hostile bunch in night games on the Bayou. But Nehlen doesn’t see it as a big factor.

“Their atmosphere is the same kind of atmosphere that we see every week in Morgantown,” said Nehlen. “Maryland couldn’t even get the ball snapped on the first four plays last week because of crowd noise.

“If West Virginia can go to LSU and win, then they are home free. There isn’t anybody left on the schedule. Naturally, it’s going to be a tough chore, but I bet you West Virginia gives them a good game if they don’t win.”

Some have called him the “Daddy” of Arkansas athletics.

Others know him as the genius who went head-to-head with fellow NFF College Hall of Fame head coach Darrell Royal at Texas and won his share of contests from the Longhorns during Broyles’ 1958-76 tenure.

However people remember him, Frank Broyles, a native of Decatur, Ga., All-Southeastern Conference standout at Georgia Tech and devotee of fellow legend Bobby Dodd at GT as a player and assistant coach, has left his mark on intercollegiate football and athletics.

“It has been a great run,” said the venerable administrator, who also served as director of athletics at Arkansas from 1974-2007 during the most glorious era in UA athletics history. “Just working with the people and making friendships and coaching quality people made it all worthwhile.”

Broyles, also virtually a scratch golfer and often seen relaxing outside his office with some short game rehearsals and a handful of dimpled spheres, has been the beloved father figure and literal face of UA athletics for six decades.

He came to UA after a one-year stint at Missouri where he replaced the legendary Don Faurot during the 1957 season, and the rest, literally, has been history.

The College Hall of Famer rolled up a 144-58-5 record in 19 seasons in Fayetteville with a national championship (1964), near-miss in 1969 with a 15-14 loss to Royal and the Longhorns in the famous “Great Shootout” clash (“I still haven’t looked at the game film on that one…too sick and too many missed chances,” noted the living legend). He also won an amazing seven Southwest Conference crowns against a UT program, which dominated the conference with a record six consecutive team crowns from 1968-73.

“We had some amazing games with Texas,” recalled Broyles, who turns 86 on Dec. 26, “but Darrell and I have cultivated a friendship that has lasted almost 60 years. We knew each other before we took our positions in the late 1950s. We always fought hard on the field but were and still remain close friends.”

Broyles, who always hired the best assistants nationally along the lines of Joe Gibbs, Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson, Jackie Sherrill, Ken Hatfield, Bill Pace, Wilson Matthews, Jack Davis, and dozens of others, developed perennial contenders through a network of in-state high school greats and outside UA recruits such as Lance Alworth, Loyd and Terry Don Phillips, and Billy Ray Smith, to name just a few.

An honors graduate in Industrial Management and Orange Bowl-record-setting passer from the Yellow Jackets’ vaunted single wing, Broyles has added Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, AT&T Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Gator Bowls, and Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame.

He began his coach career just off the playing fields of Atlanta and Tech to become assistant coach at Baylor and then moved with coach Bob Woodruff’s staff to Florida as an assistant in 1950. Broyles then embarked on a highly-successful, six-year stint under the Georgia Tech stadium namesake Dodd from 1951-56 as the Yellow Jackets competed annually for SEC and national crowns. Back at Tech, the Arkansas legend learned Dodd’s penchant for going easy on the heavy contact prior to bowl games (and the Yellow Jackets’ immense postseason success) along with Dodd’s innate knack for organization.

Both worked well in a 5-4-1 record, third-place finish in the rugged then-Big Seven Conference, near-bowl-entry at Mizzou in 1957 and for the rapid call from an Arkansas program left in the lurch after Bowden Wyatt’s return to Tennessee prior to the 1958 campaign.

The rest, as they say, is glorious history for UA football. Top 10 finishes followed in 1959, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’64 (national title), ’65, ’68, and ’69 along with nine bowl appearances over a 13-season span. When critics were calling for Broyles to give up the head coaching job, he took the Razorbacks to the 1975 SWC championship and a school-record-tying 10 victories and No. 6 national rating. One year later, SWC legends Broyles and Royal (both carrying prominent positions in the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame wing of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco) retired at the end of the 1976 season.

Broyles later was an award-winning analyst with the ABC Sports under both Chris Schenkel and Keith Jackson and had the Alabama-Georgia game once where he shouted, “Keith, I know the batted ball play – I wrote the rule on the NCAA Football Rules Committee.” Jackson kindly acknowledged his partner’s wisdom on the subject, and Broyles’ call proved to be correct.”

Building Arkansas’ facilities from among the lower third nationally to among the Top 10 in the country, the Arkansas genius found a way to balance the political “football” of playing at least two games at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium with the Fayetteville campus facility and moved UA from the Southwest Conference where it had been a member from 1914-91 to the Southeastern Conference prior to the ’91 football campaign.

Though the Razorbacks are still looking for their first SEC football title in the rugged Western Division with recent national champs Alabama and LSU, the football program is back at a competitive level along with virtually every sport on the UA dial.

“I wouldn’t trade a minute of any of this experience in athletics,” he said, “and it has just been a wonderful, lifelong passion of mine. I’m happy to remain active as a member of the Legends Poll.”

The Lott Shots features the Top 5 bone-crushing hits from Week 3. The Legends Channel rated Tennessee DE Chris Walker No. 1 this week.

What do you think?

Watch the video and vote for your favorite hit by Monday Sept. 27.

The top vote-getter will be named the Lott Shot of the week!