Ed Orgeron shares LSU quarterback plan for remainder of season

LSU Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron dropped a bomb earlier this week on the Tigers quarterback situation for this Saturday’s game. And on Tuesday, Orgeron elaborated on what things will look like at the quarterback position going forward for the Tigers.

“Yeah it will be 50/50 in practice,” said the LSU head coach. “We will let them split it. Jake and I talked about this this morning. We have decided exactly how we are going to do it in the game. It may be first quarter, second quarter, maybe a couple of series. It all depends on practice goes depends on what the game plan it.”

But will it last longer than this weekend, one reporter asked.

“We’ll see, we’ll see. If Max plays better than Garrett, he’s going to be the starter. If Garrett plays better than Max, he’s going to be the starter. We’re going to let them battle it out,” Orgeron said.

How LSU got here

Heading into this Saturday’s matchup against another SEC West archrival, the Arkansas Razorbacks, Orgeron unveiled his plan for the LSU quarterbacks for the upcoming game.

“This week we’re going to let Max (Johnson) start. But we are gonna put in Garrett (Nussmeier). Garrett’s gonna get some plays. I already talked to him and we’re going let the best man win. You know it was time to let Garrett play,” Orgeron said at Monday’s presser. “He’s a great quarterback. I like Max. Max is still our starting quarterback, but I will give [Garrett] a chance. I talked to him; he wants to play so he will play against Arkansas. And the guy that ends up playing the best is going to play the most.”

Max Johnson took over as a Tiger starting quarterback before the season even started, after Myles Brennan was lost for this season. For Brennan it was the second straight season ended because of injury. Johnson has thrown for 2,169 yards and completed 178 of his 296 pass attempts, which is good enough for a 60% pass completion percentage. He has also thrown 22 touchdowns to six interceptions. That is nearly a four-to-one touchdown to interception ratio.

Nussmeier has played in three games this season for the Tigers. He has completed 11 of his 26 pass attempts for a 42.3 completion percentage. Nussmeier also has 150 yards through the air with one touchdown. The majority of those stats came against Ole Miss two weeks ago. After taking over for Johnson in the second half, the freshman went seven of 12 for 103 yards with a touchdown.