Michael Van Buren on Instagram
By Hunt Palmer
Michael Van Buren is in familiar territory. It’s his teammates who aren’t.
The sophomore quarterback finished the 2024 season as Mississippi State’s quarterback after starter Blake Shapen went down. He’s been the first-year player taking over midseason.
The rest of the Tiger offense is accustomed to Garrett Nussmeier behind center. Every expectation is that Nussmeier will not play Saturday at Oklahoma. Van Buren continues to rep with the first unit.
“Getting reps in practice of course always helps,” Van Buren said. “Getting timing down with the guys always helps. Letting the offense be able to hear my voice during practice so it’s nothing new on Saturday is important. Every rep I get, I’m getting better.”
As Van Buren gets more comfortable with his offensive personnel, he’s also learning a new playcaller as former tight ends coach Alex Atkins fills the role following Joe Sloan’s dismissal.
Atkins was the running game coordinator under Sloan, so Van Buren had been exposed to his coaching before the role shift. That’s helped both ease into new positions.
“Our relationship has been pretty great since before he was the offensive coordinator, so I feel like nothing really changed,” Van Buren said. “We always communicated as an offense about what we liked and what we can do better.”
LSU will have to be better on Saturday.
A week ago, the Tigers produced a single touchdown on 14 drives against a Western Kentucky defense that ranks 89th in the country in total defense. Oklahoma ranks 11th and leads the SEC in yards per play allowed.
“Of course, I didn’t have my best performance last game, but sometimes you gotta learn from some things and you’ve got to go through some type of adversity,” Van Buren said. “So, you can learn and come out of it better. So, I know what I’ve got to work on. Us as an offense and us as a team, we know what we’ve got to work on. We’re in a good spot.”
That’s debatable.
Not only are the offensive coordinator and starting quarterback out. LSU is likely to play Saturday without it two best offensive linemen in left tackle Tyree Adams and center Braelin Moore, and could be without top wide receiver Aaron Anderson.
Injuries have stung LSU badly in November, and Oklahoma offers as stern a test as LSU has seen all season.
“As an offense, we’ve got great chemistry all the way from spring ball, so the coaches preach all the time, next man up,” Van Buren said. “It’s sad, of course, to not have those guys on the field, but it’s next man up. We’re going to believe in every guy who is on the field. Whoever is on the field is going to get the job done. I know it. I believe it in my heart.”
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