LSU football has an interesting decision to make, and this time it has nothing to do with HC Brian Kelly
Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about the LSU Tigers as a potential playoff team. The program has now suffered three straight losses against Texas A&M, Alabama, and Florida in which they have been outscored 107 to 52. A lot of the talking points will be centered around head coach Brian Kelly and […]
Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about the LSU Tigers as a potential playoff team. The program has now suffered three straight losses against Texas A&M, Alabama, and Florida in which they have been outscored 107 to 52. A lot of the talking points will be centered around head coach Brian Kelly and confidence in the future, but there is another decision that the Tigers need to make here very shortly.
It centers around quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who has now thrown 11 interceptions on the season, and has fumbled four times. He has consistently put the football in harm's way, and has struggled mightily over the past several weeks. With this team now out of the playoff or SEC race, it might be time to evaluate the position for the short and long term.
During their most recent 27 to 16 loss to the Florida Gators, we didn’t even see Nussmeier end the football game. The team brought in former Vanderbilt transfer AJ Swann, ending a brutal three-game stretch for Nussmeier. Against SEC opponents so far this year, he has thrown for 1,759 yards, nine touchdowns, eight interceptions, while completing just 56 percent of his passes, and rushing for -51 yards.
It’s been bad, and it might be time to try something. Whether that’s Swann, or even seeing true freshman Colin Hurley, this could be an opportunity to evaluate the rest of that room.
For the long term, you need to figure out what is best for this team going into the 2025 season. Despite the lackluster performances, there is still some 2025 NFL Draft hype for Nussmeier, although that has continued to trend downward. There is reason to believe that the transfer portal could be an option as well.
LSU has five-star true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood coming in this offseason, and he is considered to be the future of the Tiger program. There are some on the staff who would love to see him sooner rather than later. The major question is whether you would want a bridge for the first few weeks of the 2025 season or not.
As you would imagine, Nussmeier wouldn’t be content with being a bridge to someone like Underwood. Would Swann be a guy who you would trust to run the show for a few weeks until he's ready? Perhaps Hurley could be that guy at the very least?
There are a lot of questions centering around the future of this LSU program under Coach Kelly. Whether it turns around, or stagnates, is going to depend on whether they can get the quarterback position right. The next few weeks will go a long way to determine what the future looks like, including whether Nussmeier can get back on track or not.
