BATON ROUGE (AP) — For a third straight season, LSU has opened 3-0.

Head coach Les Miles likes the fact that the Tigers are undefeated entering the heart of their Southeastern Conference schedule. He only wishes his team had looked a little more dominant and a lot less sloppy heading into its trip to Mississippi State on Saturday.

‘‘No matter what, you can’t be better than 3-0,’’ Miles said Monday. ‘‘I’m happy with where we are with our record. But, nobody’s happy. The reality is we want to get better. We want to improve. We don’t want to stop at good. We want to be better than good.’’

No. 7 LSU has defeated 24th-ranked Washington, Vanderbilt and Louisiana-Lafayette in its three games. Yet the Tigers have not looked overpowering in any of those games.

The victory against Washington now looks more impressive than it did initially, following the Huskies’ upset of Southern California last weekend. Still, Miles said that he is not sure if LSU is really the seventh-best team in the country.

‘‘I have no idea what the seventh-ranked team looks like,’’ Miles said. ‘‘I can’t tell you right now who the best teams are. I can’t tell you who’s hot and who’s not hot. I just want to be better than the team we play each week.’’

The Tigers offense has not cracked the 330-yard barrier in total offense in any of its three games. LSU is averaging 164 yards per game rushing. Quarterback Jordan Jefferson has not been accurate with his downfield passes.

‘‘We need to run the ball early in games,’’ Miles said. ‘‘Change is not necessary, but we need to be more efficient. I challenged our offensive line. They can play better.

‘‘We can throw better. Jordan is managing the game better. He’s still keeping a wary eye on where he’s throwing the ball. Jordan can throw the deep ball better. We’ll work on that.’’

LSU has owned its series with Mississippi State recently, with 16 victories in the last 17 meetings. The Bulldogs’ only victory came ten years ago in Starkville, 17-16.

The Tigers will be favored again, though Miles is trying to prevent his players from taking victory in Starkville for granted.

‘‘Anytime you line up against an SEC team, you are going against an opponent that has talent,’’ Miles said. ‘‘Our guys respect these people when they see them on film. … Mississippi State had a big win at Vanderbilt. It doesn’t take much for them to gain our respect. We just have to show their talent and skill on film.’’

Miles has warned his team that its schedule is only getting tougher in the next month. Following the visit to Mississippi State, the Tigers will play at Georgia, then return home to face Florida and Auburn.

‘‘We’ve won some games, but we’ve got more important games to play,’’ Miles said. The schedule ‘‘is gaining speed. It’s going to hit another level. The issue is improvement and development. Everyone needs to play better.’’