Nussmeier happy to be on the home team Saturday

By Hunt Palmer

The Nussmeier family won’t have any trouble picking out clothes for Saturday.

While LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has bigger issues to concern himself with, attire for big LSU games has been a point of contention for his family over the years.

Growing up, Nussmeier’s favorite team depended purely on where his father, Doug, was coaching. Multiple times, that meant he wore enemy colors in Tiger Stadium. He still calls the opposition “we” to this day.

One of the toughest defeats in the last two decades for LSU was the 2012 Alabama loss. Doug Nussmeier was Alabama’s offensive coordinator. Garrett, then 10, watched from the seats.

“In Death Valley…I remember we were up big in the first half,” Nussmeier said of the Tide. “LSU started coming back in the second half. It’s weird talking about this because now I’m talking like I’m on the Alabama side, which I hate, but I remember LSU came back. And we had the ball. One of the last plays of the game we ran a little slip screen to TJ Yeldon. He took it for a touchdown. I remember going crazy, taking off my hat, jumping around.”

Though the sting McCarron-to-Yeldon left in the hearts of LSU fans lingered longer than most, it may not have been Nussmeier’s most thrilling memory as a visitor in Tiger Stadium.

Four years later, he returned to watch his father’s Florida Gators in a late-season duel with the Tigers that had major postseason implications for both teams as well as some significant drama over the postponement of the game due to Hurricane Matthew.

“I understood more at that time. I remember if we won the game, we won the east,” Nussmeier said. “If we lost, we didn’t make it. I can remember Derrius Guice getting stuffed at the one yard line to lose the game. That was a pretty cool moment for me and my family.”

Nussmeier is referring to his immediate family.

On his mother’s side of the family, the Louisiana roots run very deep. Despite the nomadic nature of his upbriging, following the jobs of a football coach from Michigan State to Washington to Alabama to Michigan to Florida among other stops, one side of Nussmeier’s family always called LSU home.

“It would be funny, all my mom’s family would want to come to the games,” Nussmeier said. “We would have family that wouldn’t wear Alabama gear, wouldn’t even touch it. They would wear black shirts to games. We had family members wearing LSU gear. As a kid I was like, that’s messed up. This is our family. That’s why I love LSU so much.”

Nussmeier now has a chance to live his dreams as a college quarterback, following in the footsteps of the idols he watched growing up. None of them wore LSU’s iconic purple and gold, either, though.

“I would always idolize my dad’s quarterbacks,” Nussmeier said. “When we were at Washington, Jake Locker. When we were at Michigan State, Drew Stanton. Alabama, it was AJ.”

All of those players played in and won huge games in college. They all started NFL games. In his first season as LSU’s starter, Nussmeier has carved a similar path.

He currently ranks in the Top 10 in the country in passing yards per game, completions and touchdown passes. With a sporadic running game plaguing the Tiger offense, some weeks Nussmeier is asked to shoulder a heavier load than most.

He’s largely responded, save three crucial turnovers two weeks ago in College Station that helped the Aggies outscore LSU, 31-6, after halftime. After a long bye week to stew on the issues, Nussmeier is excited to return to the field.

“Like I’ve said before, I take the blame, for sure,” Nussmeier said. “I feel like I’ve got to be better with the football. I’ve said that many times. Learn from those mistakes. I’ll take those lessons with me for the rest of my career…at the end of the day, I’ve got to do a better job as a quarterback.”

Generally, a team saddled with two losses wouldn’t have championship aspirations. Currently LSU, with just a single conference loss, has a realistic chance to make the SEC Championship game and qualify for the College Football Playoff. Those dreams and goals remain.

Throughout his young football life, Nussmeier saw just one national championship, his father’s January of 2013 victory in Miami over Notre Dame. The Irish’s head coach that night was LSU head coach Brian Kelly.

“Unfortunately, I’ve brought it up in a couple of meetings,” Nussmeier said with a chuckle. “Got a little jab in there every once in a while. It was pretty funny.”

Kelly recalled the jabs.

“Yeah, he brought it up, and I told him to shut up,” Kelly quipped. “I told him not to bring it up again because the next time we’re on that field, we’re going to be holding (the trophy) up together.”