BATON ROUGE &045; This was the kind of program Les Miles wanted to be a part of.

And give the new coach credit &045; he took everything in stride during Sunday’s Media Day, answered questions to the point when necessary and tried to play close to the vest when it required it. And he didn’t budge over the two biggest questions on everyone’s minds as the season draws near for a program where its fans expect to contend for a SEC and a national championship.

4Who’s going to be the quarterback?

4How will the team recover from Alley Broussard’s injury?

Welcome to LSU football.

&uot;(This job) became available, and it was a great opportunity,&uot; the former Oklahoma State coach said. &uot;But it was also one where I had no idea how it would turn. The passion that surrounds the program, the people I run into and their commitment to excellence &045; I didn’t know until I got here that that was all in place. I don’t think that can be duplicated anywhere.&uot;

Now on to more pressing mattersŠ.

Miles played it close to the vest as to who will be the starter this fall, and he didn’t rule out the possibility of freshman sensation Ryan Perrilloux stepping in. The highly touted recruit out of East St. John will go up against JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn for the starting job, although Russell may have the edge after last year.

What turned out to be the Tigers’ biggest sore spot last year is still a ways off from being decided &045; and it may not be until the week of the season opener against North Texas Sept. 3.

&uot;There’s still competition and still decisions to be made,&uot; Miles said. &uot;The offense &045; both run and pass &045; is executing better than they had. I think all three of them are very talented guys. I think JaMarcus has a very talented arm and is getting more confident with the system.

&uot;Matt Flynn can throw the football well and may be a little bit better with his feet. All three are coming along, and we’ll continue to compete at that position for the duration.&uot;

The bright spot in all of this? You’re talking about two sophomores and a freshman competing for the starting job, so there’s still a long way to go no matter who gets the job. But for an offense that suffered from inconsistencies in the passing game a year ago, the Tigers just need a solid starter back there.

&uot;Last year both (quarterbacks and receivers) were problems, and it takes both,&uot; offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher said. &uot;Often times you couldn’t tell which one it was. I’m excited where we’re at. We’re not where we need to be, but we’re making a lot of progress.

&uot;I don’t think it’ll be drastically different, but I think it’ll be different because you have some experience. They understand what their role is and understand things.&uot;

Russell is the most experienced of the three after he threw for 1,053 yards last year, but he and Marcus Randall rotated at the spot with coaches trying to go with the hot hand or the one who was the best fit.

Flynn got in eight games but only threw three passes, all incomplete.

One will be the starter, Miles said.

&uot;We’d like to use one quarterback,&uot; he said. &uot;If there comes to a point that one quarterback gives us an advantage in one certain situation, we’ll go with two quarterbacks. We’d like to have a starter. We’d like to stay with a starter and let him get comfortable and get experience.&uot;

Then there’s the backfield spot vacated by Broussard, who went down with a knee injury Saturday and is out for the season. Miles chose not to reveal the extent of the injury but offered the bruising back will be back in 2006 and didn’t suffer a career-ending injury.

&uot;We’re disappointed with the loss of Alley,&uot; Miles said. &uot;He certainly had a great summer. Although we’ll miss him, we’ll move on and look to being very productive. He had only three carries that day. It’s impossible for him to practice football and not sustain contact. It was just a one-on-one tackle. You watch it on film, and you would not think it was a serious injury.&uot;

Fortunately for the Tigers, there’s still plenty of weapons in the backfield for the picking. What Broussard’s injury does is take away that element of the power running game with his 909 yards last season, but options are still there.

Namely Joseph Addai, Justin Vincent and Shyrone Carey.

&uot;I don’t know if we’ll miss that much with the guys we have,&uot; Miles said.