Talking about quarterback flex? Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers were often the first ones in the list to shower their starter, Garrett Nussmeier, with praise. After all, even when the quarterback had options to move out to the NFL, he gave himself one last chance to prove in college football. But somehow this season, Kelly’s offense unit felt heavy to carry. They only won 23-7 against Louisiana Tech, one of LSU’s best bets. The reason behind their sloppy performance is the offensive unit. In that very game, Nussmeier faced his first turnover of the year. After playing against Florida, Kelly’s quarterback with the Heisman hype came up with interceptions and 15-of-27 for 220 yards. After that, the head coach made a painful admission about Nussmeier’s injury.

Kelly revealed that his quarterback is going through a momentary rough patch while dealing with a torso injury. The head coach might have felt like putting a big boulder on his heart while confessing, “You know, I’ll be honest, and I wasn’t going to get into this, but with you guys, he’s been slowed a little bit with a torso injury. And he’s fighting through it, and he’s getting better. And he’s not going to be able to really shut it down until we get to the bye week.” But here comes the big update.

On September 18, WAFB TV Sports Director, Jacques Doucet, tweeted, “.@LSUfootball Brian Kelly Thursday evening on why Garrett Nussmeier will play against the Southeastern Lions and what kind of condition Nussmeier is in.” He attached a clip from the Tigers’ pre-game presser. There will be no rest for the quarterback this weekend. Whether it’s bad or good for the quarterback, we have yet to figure that out. But Kelly looks impressed with Nussmeir’s recovery rate. He said, “Because he’s feeling good. We had to limit a lot of things that we did the first three, four weeks. And he’s finally coming to practice, feeling good, and getting into a good rhythm.”

He continued, “This is his best week of practice. So we want him to go and play the game at a level where he’s comfortable. And to hold him back, really, at this point, would not be the right thing for him.” The third-ranked Tigers host FCS program Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, September 20, and will be playing against Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss the following weekend on September 27. 

The fact that Nussmeier will be back for this weekend might be a big relief for the Tigers fans. After all, back in August, Kelly revealed that his starter was dealing with patellar tendinitis in his knee. While healthwise all looks fine, the stats sheet might leave droplets of cold sweat on the LSU fam’s forehead. Nussmeier, with potential first-round pick hype in next year’s NFL draft, is completing 65.1% of his attempts for 689 yards. He’s thrown just three touchdowns while tossing two picks. Talking about his standings in the SEC?

Nussmeier ranks 9th with 229.7 yards per game and 16th with 6.8 yards per attempt. Looks like Kelly is not covering him up. Instead, the head coach said, “And I don’t want to say, hey, he’s back to the Garrett Nussmeier. But there were a lot of things that he couldn’t do that he had to adjust to.” Let’s hope that Nussmeier ensures no one further pokes Kelly and Co. 

Garrett Nussmeier slips from his pedestal, leaving Brian Kelly upset

At the beginning of this season, Nussmeier was the reason for Kelly to boast to others. After Week 1, the LSU quarterback in ESPN’s listing came off as the fifth-best in the SEC with his Total QBR at 82.7. After their big win against Clemson, David Pollack ran short of words to praise the Heisman candidate. On his podcast, he said, “Nussmeier doesn’t run the football much, but watch him get outside the pocket and do damage, reset and throw across his body—phenomenal…”

His release timings? Immaculate. 2.09 seconds, which made Nussmeier have one of the fastest release timings in CFB. Not just talent. It was paired with Nussmeier’s dedication. The young chap was not pushing himself hard to firm his ground in the Heisman. Instead, he said, “Coach, I just want to win. I don’t care about Heisman stats… I came back to win a championship.” But it did not take long for the tables to turn against them.

Against Florida, Garrett Nussmeier completed 55.6% of his passes for 220 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. That might have left Brian Kelly in a bitter mood. So, when WBRZ-TV sports director Michael Cauble stirred the pot by questioning their team’s offense during the post-game presser, the head coach lost his cool. He snapped back, saying, “What do you want, for us to win 70-0 against Florida to keep you happy? You’re spoiled.” Here’s hoping the quarterback slips back into his role as the team’s spark plug soon.