PALMER: Garrett Nussmeier needs to sit against Southeastern

By Hunt Palmer

Pardon me while I connect some dots.

I don’t have all the information here, but I also don’t believe my presumption to be wildly off base.

Brian Kelly said Monday that Garrett Nussmeier is dealing with “a torso injury”. That much we know.

REACTION‼️#LSU HC Brian Kelly says QB Garrett Nussmeier has been dealing with a torso injury! 🐯🏈👀 pic.twitter.com/A3Sgvwjcn4

— 104.5 ESPN (@1045espn) September 15, 2025

How bad is it? Well, here’s all we got.

“He’s fighting through it, and he’s getting better,” Kelly said, “And he’s not going to be able to really shut it down until we get to the bye week.”

It’s bad enough that he’s going to “shut it down.” That’s where I start connecting dots.

I have been attending LSU football practices for 15 years. I have never seen a quarterback participate in practice without throwing a football. Nussmeier did it twice in late August.

Kelly called it “load management.”

I watched Nussmeier play a full season last year and never saw him miss a deep throw by 10 yards. He did it on the opening drive against Louisiana Tech. That turned a Barion Brown touchdown into a Bulldog interception.

This season Nussmeier has made 106 throws, and six of those were either throw aways or batted down at the line. So, it makes our numbers clean at 100 throws on the number when you take those six out.

Here are the numbers on Nussmeier’s attempts compared to a season ago.

Nussmeier is throwing 67% of his passes less than 10 yards downfield. That number is up 10% from 57% last season. He’s also throwing deep less. Just 13% of his throws are more than 20 yards. That number was 17% last year. And when he does throw deep, he’s not connecting. He was at 36% beyond 20 yards last year. That number is down to 31% this season.

These numbers aren’t drastic, but they all suggest things aren’t the sign of a quarterback progressing. He’s regressed.

One could suggest that Joe Sloan is hesitant to call deep shots because Clemson and Florida have elite talent on the defensive front. Those two combined for just one sack of Nussmeier as the ball came out more quickly. Louisiana Tech sat back in a shell and forced everything underneath. That forces shorter throws, too.

All of that can be true.

However, LSU has elite speed wide receivers—Chris Hilton, Barion Brown, Nic Anderson–with a track record of success down the field, and they aren’t being given much of a chance to makes those plays. In fact, Nussmeier’s longest attempt of the season was just 34 yards and it was grossly under thrown on the interception intended for Brown. That’s a dimension of the offense we were told all August would be available. It’s not.

You can see which dots I’m connecting.

Nussmeier is hurt, and LSU’s struggling offense is a shell of itself because of it.

Kelly’s inference that Nussmeier has to wait two weeks to “shut it down” is incorrect. Nussmeier can absolutely “shut it down” this week. The Tigers host Southeastern Louisiana in a game they would win 100 times out of 100 with a walk-on quarterback in the game, much less Michael Van Buren who has eight starts in an SEC uniform to his name.

The Lions failed to score a point on Louisiana Tech three weeks ago and have been outscored 100-7 over the last two years in trips to Tulane and Mississippi State. In the Kelly era, LSU has outscored its three FCS opponents 181-48, and that’s without this version of the LSU defense.

Shut it down.

I’m no doctor, and I don’t have any more information on Nussmeier’s pain level than you, the reader. I don’t know how much Sunday to Sunday off will help the “torso injury.” I do know that it won’t aggravate it.

LSU has a stellar defensive unit and a proven quarterback. That’s a great start to a recipe for a College Football Playoff run. Five touchdowns in three games and an offense ranked in the 100s in scoring offense and yards per play is not going to get the Tigers there.

I will listen to claims that reps, especially against a helpless FCS defense, will help the offense get into rhythm. I understand how hard college athletes work year-round for the opportunity to play 12 times. Taking one of those away is meaningful. I don’t even know that a week off will help the issue. I hear it all.

But these dots seem to come together pretty quickly.

The quarterback didn’t throw the last week of camp. The quarterback hasn’t played well, and the offense is tailored to a shorter passing game. The coach is suggesting the quarterback will “shut it down” in two weeks.

Not a huge stretch here.

The bye week is the natural time to give a player rest. In this case, that call needs to be made now. Nussmeier needs to heal up before the trip to Oxford, not afterward.

Shut it down.

❌ There is no reason why Garrett Nussmeier should play in the game vs Southeastern

🏈 Brian Kelly revealed today that Nuss is playing through a torso injury and will continue to do so until the bye week

⬇️ Do you think it’s worth it??#LSU #LSUFootball #Heisman #GeauxTigers pic.twitter.com/1nezlmIt9W

— 104.5 ESPN (@1045espn) September 15, 2025