PALMER: Nussmeier’s dream season has turned to a nightmare

By Hunt Palmer

The LSU-Alabama matchup has defined Tiger quarterbacks of the 21^st century. Garrett Nussmeier watched from the sideline in the second half on Saturday night.

It was the right decision. It’s the wrong ending.

Rohan Davey, JaMarcus Russell, Matt Flynn, Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels produced historical moments against the Tide over the years.

Davey threw for a school record 528 yards on that field in 2001. Russell found Dwayne Bowe for an overtime game-winner four years later. Flynn hit Early Doucet for a fourth down game clincher on the way to a title in 2007. Davey and Russell became Sugar Bowl MVPs in their sendoff. Flynn hoisted the crystal football.

Burrow outdueled Tua. Daniels found Taylor to trigger a flood of the Tiger Stadium turf. Both went on to win Heismans and take the NFL by storm.

Nussmeier was next in line, and his story won’t feature that ending.

It’s a gut-wrenching tale of a player who has stuck it out through four head coaches (two interim), five offensive coordinators and three starters ahead of him on the depth chart. He passed on the NFL Draft to return. He represented the program at SEC Media Days. He was honored as the first No. 18 at quarterback since Matt Mauck, another legendary signal caller.

It’s a Hollywood script destined for a happy ending that dissolved into horror.

Nussmeier suffered an injury in training camp that hindered his ability early this season. How much? We may never know. He lost 80 percent of the offensive line that kept him upright long enough to throw for the second highest yardage total in LSU history in 2024.

The 2025 front has struggled mightily. That’s affected Nussmeier mentally and physically. He’s pressured often. When he’s not, he frequently expects to be. For the second consecutive season, he’s got no running game to help him.

He’s missing reads and throws in a way he didn’t do much of last season. That part is on him. He’s the quarterback on what will be one of college football’s three most underperforming teams in 2025 (Penn State and Clemson), and that will likely define his legacy at LSU. Interim head coach Frank Wilson made the decision to sit the senior signal caller in favor of Michael Van Buren on Saturday night.

Van Buren should start the rest of the way.

It wasn’t as if Van Buren unlocked the offense and asserted himself as the obvious option moving forward, but his ability to escape trouble, extend plays and pick up third downs with his feet are essential to LSU’s moving the ball with this offensive personnel.

Simply, Nussmeier’s fit in this offense is awful. During his run as LSU’s starter, LSU is the worst rushing team in the SEC. That allows defenses to release the hounds selling out for the pass. LSU’s offensive line is playing an overmatched true freshman at left tackle and has used three options at right tackle. Saturday night Ory Williams played the entire second half there. He’s been a special teams player this year.

Nussmeier’s a sitting duck, and he knows it.

The blocking failures have now forced two play callers to abandon the downfield passing and essentially limit the offense to screens and hitches. That’s easy to defend and requires perfect execution play after play to drive down the field.

We’ll learn in the coming days if Nussmeier’s time as the starter is done. With Senior Day against Western Kentucky on the horizon, his time under center in some capacity almost assuredly isn’t.

For the third time this season, Nussmeier’s emotions were evident as the clock ran down. Many will suggest that a player who is earning seven figures this year should swallow those emotions and stiffen his lip.

I’d submit a kid watching his dream slip away has a right to an emotional response. In an era where players annually hop into the portal to solicit the highest bid, Nussmeier has pledged his allegiance to LSU year after year. In a nomadic, coach’s kid’s childhood, he’s always claimed Louisiana as home.

He knows the stories of the legendary quarterbacks who came before him, and now his chapter is coming to a close.

Sometimes dreams don’t match reality.