By Hunt Palmer
When the confetti fell in the Superdome in January 2020, I thought I’d never see anything like Joe Burrow again. That’s a tough pill to choke down at 32, but I was grateful. I only had to wait four years to be proven wrong. If by “like” I meant “similar to”, then no. If by “like” I meant production, hell yes. Jayden Daniels was as good as Burrow last season. I could argue he was better. I won’t, but I could. Daniels accounted for 411 yards per game to Burrow’s 402. Burrow accounted for 65 TDs in 15 games. Daniels tallied 50 in 12. Crunch those numbers, and it’s razor thin. Both guys led the nation’s best offense and made it look far, far too easy much of the year. Burrow just had a defense full of NFL players like Derek Stingley, Jr., Patrick Queen, Grant Delpit, Kristian Fulton, K’Lavon Chaisson….you get the picture. Daniels didn’t. I’m careful not to make statements like “never again” these days. Paul Skenes is testing me, but that’s a different story. At LSU, like Oklahoma or Alabama or Ohio State, great players can come through at any point. I’ll look forward to the next Heisman winner to don purple in gold in Tiger Stadium. And I’ll cherish the memory of the last two.
WHO’S GONE: Jayden Daniels (NFL Draft)
WHO’S BACK: Garrett Nussmeier, Rickie Collins
WHO’S NEW: AJ Swann (Transfer, Vanderbilt), Colin Hurley (Freshman)
While I did think Myles Brennan could at least function the same offense Joe Burrow mastered, the 2025 offense must look wildly different that last year’s version. The running game has to be more creative and diverse. The pass protection hold the pocket longer. Two tight end sets will likely be more prevalent. All of that being said, Garrett Nussmeier doesn’t limit LSU. He’s capable of everything you need a college quarterback to do. He’s big enough, 6-foot-1 and 200 lbs. He’s got plenty of arm. He can move his feet. He’s grown up in football and understands scheme. He just hasn’t played much. The majority of Nussmeier’s action has come under adverse circumstances.
He was a true freshman in 2021 when a desperate coaching staff tossed him into the fire two series into the Arkansas game. He made a highlight real throw to Jack Bech for a score. He also threw a pair of picks. Overall, it was a dismal and forced effort. A year later, Daniels went down in the SEC Championship game. Nussmeier had to jump in down, 35-17, against a hellacious Bulldog defense. He didn’t have much to lose, so he cut it loose. The result was a school record 294 yards passing in a single half. Some of it was really good play. Some it was fearless gunslinging without consequence.
Fast forward another 11 months, and Daniels went down again, this time in Tuscaloosa. Alabama led 45-28 when Dallas Turner executed a perfect targeting foul. The picture, I’m told, is now next to the definition in the 2024 rule book. Never mind that it wasn’t called. Enter Nussmeier. Nick Saban unleased the dogs the rest of the way, and Nussmeier didn’t have much of a chance.
Finally, in the bowl game, he got a fair shot. Daniels declared for the draft. Mike Denbrock bolted for Notre Dame. Joe Sloan and Cortez Hankton huddled up and tailored a gameplan for Nussmeier. There were some early bumps, but the 98-yard, game-winning drive was a work of art. In total, Nussmeier completed 31-of-45 passes for 395 yards and 3 TDs, effectively announcing his assumption of the starting role.
Right now, it’s reasonable to lump Nussmeier in with fairly inexperienced SEC starters like Connor Weigmann (A&M), Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee), Jackson Arnold (OU) and Brock Vandagriff (UK). All were highly recruited, and all have plenty to prove. The signal callers who live up to the hype will probably have teams in the playoff mix in mid-November. Well, maybe not Vandagriff. But the other four. The ones who do not will hit some significant bumps in a brutal SEC.
The backup role appears in question. AJ Swann started 12 games at Vanderbilt. He threw for 2731 yards and 22 TDs with nine INTs. That was enough for me to believe he was the sure-fire backup. Rickie Collins has competed. The Baton Rouge native is a more athletic option and has made fewer mistakes when the media was present in fall camp.
I believe Swann is probably the safer option should something happen to Nussmeier in Las Vegas or Columbia early in the season. But that’s far from a sure thing.
Honestly, if LSU has to go to the backup, things are going to get dicey. The offense will get vanilla and safe. Swann and Collins are ill-prepared to try to keep up with offenses like USC, Ole Miss or Alabama. In the portal era, most teams have shaky backup situations. LSU is no different.
Collin Hurley just turned 17. He enrolled at LSU in January at 16. When I was 16, I was trying not to hit curbs in my mom’s Jeep when she let me drive in the neighborhood. He was living on his own and trying to learn SEC quarterbacking. No word on how well he handles a red turn on red. The point being, Hurley is very much a work in progress.
Nussmeier has two years of eligibility left. Thank goodness he decided to sit out that abomination of a bowl game in Houston three years ago. The nation’s premier quarterback is set to enroll in 2025. That feels like the natural progression of the all-important position, but in this era, you just take it a year at a time.
This year, I feel good about LSU’s starting quarterback.
