By Hunt Palmer
With the open practice in Tiger Stadium now in the rearview, LSU is putting the finishing touches on spring work.
BACK IN ACTION
On Tuesday, two players returned to full participation, or something close to it.
Jacobian Guillory was in full pads and playing through contact. He’s seven months removed from a ruptured Achilles tendon that cost him his fifth season. Guillory adds a much-needed veteran presence to a defensive tackle group light on experience.
Hurley was involved in a serious one-car accident in January. Police found him unresponsive in his vehicle. After a few months in Jacksonville recovering, Hurley rejoined the team last week and was dressed for practice on Tuesday. He ran fourth behind Garrett Nussmeier, Michael Van Buren and Ju’Juan Johnson.
Brian Kelly on Hurley: “It was great to see Collin out there today. You guys saw it. He was involved in some of the one-on-ones. He looks great. Physically, he’s got an unbelievably strong arm. It was just great to have him out there and just to have him on campus. It just a blessing to get that young man back here. And to be in the kind of physical condition that he is is just exciting.”
Building depth at the quarterback spot is a challenge these days. LSU has it now. Nussmeier is in his fifth season as a college player and second as a starter. Van Buren has significant starting experience. Hurley is a talented young player, and Johnson offers a wrinkle to the offense, specifically in the red zone.
It’s foolish to try to project the position in 2026, 2027 and beyond, but for 2025, LSU is in a great place.
FIRST DEFENSE
The first unit on defense was the same as it has been for a couple of weeks.
Jack Pyburn and Gabriel Reliford were the ends. Dominic McKinley and Ahmad Breaux were the tackles. Davhon Keys and West Weeks were the linebackers. Austin Ausberry played star. Ashton Stamps and Mansoor Delane were the corners, and Javien Toviano and Tamarcus Cooley played safety.
11-ON-11
The media wasn’t permitted access to much 11-on-11, but we did see one really nice throw and catch from Nussmeier to Chris Hilton. It was a slow developing play that involved play action in the backfield. Hilton came from the right side of the formation toward the front left pylon, and Nussmeier dropped it in perfectly for about a 30 yard gain.
Hilton dove to catch it, and I wouldn’t have been shocked to see a replay that shows it briefly hit the ground, but the official on the play called it a catch.
Zavion Thomas also busted another big run. We’ve seen that a few times this spring. He’s going to get a lot of usage out of the backfield.
NIC’D UP
Nic Anderson has really been eased through this spring. He didn’t do a ton the first week, gradually getting more and more reps. He took some full speed reps on Saturday.
Still, he’s not 100%.
Tuesday, he had a big wrap on the left quad/hamstring. He was also a little gimpy late in the workout. I didn’t see exactly what happened. I don’t think LSU would be pushing it if there was significant risk, but Anderson’s injury lingered all fall and is apparently still something of an issue in the spring. Here’s what Brian Kelly had to say.
“I think he was a little slowed by an injury that was lingering (early in spring). We just wanted to be patient with him. Nic’s a smart kid. He knows his body. We don’t have to push and say, ‘get out there.’ When he’s ready, he’s going to go compete. I think he just has a maturity about him that you don’t have to worry about Nic…As he’s gotten healthy, you can see the kind of presence he has. He’s big. He’s physical. He’s athletic. I’m excited about him. I think he’s gonna be a guy that’s going to win some key one-on-one matchups for us with his physicality, particularly some of those one-on-one key third down matchups that you need. So, it’s nice to see him rounding into form as we get late here into spring practice.”
