By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE — The last time Garrett Nussmeier started a game at quarterback was Dec. 4, 2020.
It was Senior Night for Nussmeier and the Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus Marauders pounded Plano East to close the regular season 9-0.
Nussmeier completed 16 of 19 passes for 208 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
“And that was the end of my high school career,” Nussmeier said. “I got hurt. I was running and I broke my fingers. I tried to do whatever I did until I broke too many (fingers).”
Since that game, Nussmeier has been sitting on the starting QB launching pad on hold his entire three-year, 37-game college career.
That is, until LSU’s Heisman Trophy winning quarterback and likely NFL first-round draft choice Jayden Daniels announced Monday he’s opting out of the Tigers’ Jan. 1 ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Wisconsin.
Which means after 1,123 consecutive days as a faithful, loyal and exceedingly patient backup QB, redshirt sophomore Nussmeier will finally have liftoff in his first college start.
“Let’s go, let’s get this right,” Nussmeier said Wednesday of his immediate reaction to Daniels’ decision to bypass playing in the bowl game.
Nussmeier has played in 17 career games and 326 snaps as the Tigers’ backup QB, competing 98 of 174 passes for 1,325 yards, 8 TDs and 6 interceptions.
This season playing in six games, he completed 17 of 33 passes for 196 yards and 1 TD, and scored on a 1-yard QB sneak on his only rushing attempt.
No, he doesn’t have Daniels’ wheels (who does?), which is an adjustment for LSU’s offensive line.
“He doesn’t really want to run, he wants to put the ball in the air,” starting offensive right tackle Emery Jones Jr. said of Nussmeier. “So, I just feel you’ve got to hold on to your blocks a little bit longer than you would for Jayden.”
Nussmeier, the son of a 24-year college and NFL offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier, had to overcome a reputation early in his LSU career as gunslinging passer.
It started against Arkansas in the final of the four games he played as a true freshman in 2021. Then-LSU head coach Ed Orgeron pulled starting QB Max Johnson after two ineffective series and inserted Nussmeier to fire throws all over the place to heavily recovered receivers.
While Nussmeier completed 18 of 31 passes for 179 yards and a 29-yard TD pass to Jack Bech in which Nussmeier spun away from Arkansas safety Joe Foucha (who played for LSU last season after a transfer), he also threw two interceptions.
The second was a killer. It came in the end zone on LSU’s first possession of overtime and allowed the Hogs to kick a game-winning field goal on their possession for a 16-13 win.
Last season after Daniels won the starting job over Nussmeier, the backup QB opened some eyes in LSU’s final two games of a 10-4 season against Georgia in the SEC championship game and in the Citrus Bowl vs. Iowa.
In the Tigers’ 50-30 loss to the Bulldogs after Georgia led 35-10 at halftime, Nussmeier replaced an injured Daniels and threw for 294 yards. It was most passing yards in one half in LSU history – and two TDs as well as interception.
“Garrett gave us opportunities down the field, trusting us to make plays,” LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers said afterwards.
Then in the Tigers’ 63-7 Citrus Bowl beatdown of Iowa, Nussmeier led LSU to three TDs in four possessions, including two scores in the first half. He threw for 173 yards and had pass intercepted in the end zone.
“There’s no quarterback controversy,” Kelly said afterward. “Jayden is the No. 1 quarterback. Garrett will get an opportunity to compete, though. You have two really good quarterbacks, you have to have an open mind. You can’t be close-minded when you are looking at two elite quarterbacks.”
But this season, Nussmeier played the least amount of snaps (83) in his career. Daniels’ massive jump in improvement, and him having to play almost every snap for LSU to have a chance to win because of the Tigers’ poor defense, kept Nussmeier on the sideline.
“I take a lot of pride in the way that I’ve tried to prepare as if I was going to have to play in every game,” Nussmeier said. “When the clock hit zero, and I didn’t play it, it was hard, but you know, the easiest thing was if we won the game, I was happy.”
He was especially pleased with Daniels becoming LSU’s third Heisman winner.
“Jayden had an unbelievable year,” Nussmeier said. “He proved a lot of people wrong, and I was super proud of him for that.
“What I appreciate about our relationship was the competition and how much we pushed each other to be great every single day. “It taught me not to take off days. It taught me to approach every rep and every practice just like it was a game.
“I had to be good every single day because he’s such a good player. And that helped me a ton. That’s something that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career.”
Unlike the majority of college quarterbacks who transfer after a year or two believing a fresh start and new situation will jumpstart their career, Nussmeier stayed true to himself. “I knew this was the place that I wanted to be,” Nussmeier said of LSU. “I wanted to be in this (LSU’s football operations) building. I knew I wanted to represent this university.
“It definitely hasn’t been easy. What helped me the most was putting my trust in God and His plan for me. It gave me humility and understanding I want things right now but it’s not for Him. His time is always right. It’s about trusting, putting your faith in Him and letting it happen when it’s supposed to happen.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com