After completing 18 of 32 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns in the second scrimmage of fall camp, backup quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is certainly easing the fears of coaches about having a solid #2 behind named starter Max Johnson.
Johnson and Nussmeier are the only two scholarship quarterbacks on the depth chart.
This comes after Nussmeier completed 11 of 17 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns in the first scrimmage. The freshman signal-caller has combined to throw for 513 yards and 6 touchdowns in the two scrimmages.
Even though Nussmeier has been working primarily with the second-team offense, he is making his presence known and coaches are noticing. The staff is very pleased with his consistency and work ethic.
Nussmeier has spent long hours with OC Jake Peetz, learning all the intricacies about the offense and learning how to reduce mistakes and get better at protecting the football.
Played at Flower Mound-Marcus
Nussmeier played his high school ball at Flower Mound-Marcus, where he was a 4-star recruit according to 247sports.
In his senior year at Marcus, Nussmeier threw for 2815 yards and 35 touchdowns and only five INTs (in 297 pass attempts). For his prep career, Nussmeier passed for 8160 yards, 83 touchdowns, and 20 INTs (in 946 pass attempts).
To give you a sense of the kind of quarterback LSU was getting, look at some of Nussmeier’s game stats from 2020:
- Week 10: 58-38 win over Lewisville: 4 TD passes…in the first half.
- Week 8: 46-24 win over Plano: 349 yards passing, 3 TDs.
- Week 7: 38-24 win over Coppell: 30 of 44 passing, 433 yards, 4 touchdowns.
- Week 6: 56-17 win over Plano: 19 of 22 342 yards, 4 TDs.
- Week 5: 55-14 win over Flower Mound: over 300 yards passing, 4 TDs.
- Week 3: 49-10 win over Keller Central: 205 yards, 5 TDs, 76% comp. pct.
- Week 2: 27-10 win over McKinney: 341 yards passing, 3 TDs.
- Week 1: 48-31 win over Jesuit: 364 yards, 4 TDs, 1 rushing TD.
Nussmeier had 30 scholarship offers, choosing to sign with the Tigers. Some of the state schools he spurned include Texas A&M, Texas, SMU, TCU, Texas State, and UTSA. He also turned down other Power 5 and Group of Five offers.
LSU opens the 2021 season on September 4th at the iconic Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA against UCLA.
Tony Thomas is a freelance writer. He also writes about college football on his own site, www.thegridironnews.com.
Does Garrett Nussmeier see any playing time for LSU this season? Comment below.
