Garrett Nussmeier came to LSU as a four-star recruit in the 2021 class. For three seasons, he patiently waited his turn to be the starter. The Lake Charles native sat on the bench and watched one of the greatest quarterbacks in LSU history shine, but he never complained. He soaked in as much information as he could from the 2024 Heisman winner, knowing his chance was coming.
On January 1st, 2024, that chance came. Jayden Daniels announced he was opting out of the Tigers bowl game to focus on NFL Draft preparation, putting Nussmeier in line to start his first game at the collegiate level.
Nussmeier shined in LSU's 35-31 win over the Badgers, throwing for 395 yards and three touchdowns behind a 68.8% completion percentage. He showed Tiger fans exactly what they wanted to see and gave them hope as they began life without Jayden Daniels.
Over the course of spring and fall practices, Nussmeier looked sharp. While he made some mistakes, most days he was dissecting the Tigers secondary. Finally, after 245 days, Nussmeier and the Tigers took the field to begin the 2024 season.
Despite a season-opening loss to USC, Nussmeier enjoyed a very strong start to the season, throwing for 300+ yards in five of his first six games (285 vs South Carolina) and throwing for 2+ touchdowns in all of them. His name was brought up in Heisman conversations, but a rough, three-game stretch brought those conversations to a halt.
The Tigers, who were winners of six of their first seven games, dropped three in a row to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida. Over the course of those three weeks, Nussmeier threw for 904 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions. The offense averaged a tad over 17 points per game during that stretch, and a lot of the LSU fanbase began to turn on Nussmeier.
However, Nussmeier heard the noise and dialed in. He finished the season strong, completing 50 of his 68 attempts for 599 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in wins Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. In their win over the Sooners, Nussmeier suffered a shoulder injury which caused him to miss a bit of time, but he battled through it and threw two of his best balls of the year to Chris Hilton on a pair of 40+ yard touchdowns.
By the end of the night, most of the fans who were calling for his head a couple weeks ago were begging for him to return next season (partially because of Bryce Underwood's flip).
After the Tigers season finale, Nussmeier confirmed that he was going to play in the bowl game "no matter what," but said he hasn't made a decision on whether or not he will return to LSU next year. That process will begin this week.
"I have not had any conversations or discussions [about leaving]," Nussmeier said after the game. "I wanted to leave those for after the season. I can't really tell you where I'm at right now or what I think, but I love being here at LSU, I love this team and I love this school, this family, the fanbase. I'll get into those conversations early this week and try to figure everything out from there."
In his first season as a starter, Nussmeier threw for 3,735 yards (3rd most in LSU history) and 26 touchdowns (6th). Here's how his first season stacked up with Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, who both went on to win the Heisman trophy after returning to LSU for another year.
Am I saying that Nussmeier is going to become the next Joe Burrow or Jayden Daniels if he returns? No. Am I saying that he's 100% going to win the Heisman if he returns? Also no.
What I'm trying to say is he has the talent to, with another year in college, become a really good quarterback. Nothing is guaranteed, but he has all the arm talent you could want. He just needs to use his experience from this year and figure out how to be a more consistent passer and cutdown on the turnovers.
With Rickie Collins in the portal and Bryce Underwood heading to Michigan, Nussmeier is easily LSU's best option when it comes to the starting quarterback for next year (and I think that would've been the case even if Underwood was still coming). He'll have 14 starts under his belt after the bowl game, eight of which will have come against SEC teams, and has a strong rapport with the coaching staff and returning offensive players.
Should Nussmeier return to LSU next year? I think so, but NFL money is tempting, especially if he's told there's a chance he could be a first rounder. There are teams out there that will like his skillset, and we've seen much less-polished QBs go in the first round recently.
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