Assessing Garrett Nussmeier’s performance vs South Carolina

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier secured the first SEC win of his career on Saturday in a hostile environment. Leading the Tigers to a thrilling 36-33 win at South Carolina to push the team’s record to 2-1 on the season.

Nussmeier’s performance wasn’t perfect, but it was a winning one where he showed toughness and led LSU to a comeback win for the ages. A showing that The Bengal Tiger‘s Shae Dixon broke down on Monday at the On3 Roundtable.

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“I thought that for Garrett Nussmeier to turn seven total yards in the first quarter into 285 (passing yards). 24-of-40, that’s below his normal completion percentage and at 60%,” Dixon said. “Still threw a couple touchdowns, had a bad interception and had another really bad interception that should have cost in the game when [Kyle] Kennard puts the hit on him and they throw the flag for it.”

“So not his perfect game by any stretch, but he made some NFL throws in that game, and he made some throws that certainly kept them in the game. And made a lot of throws off platform, off his back foot, in large part because South Carolina was bringing the house, was beating guys, was in his face, was putting him on the ground, and he just kept kind of grinding away.”

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Nussmeier made up for several costly turnovers in the grand scheme of the game, helping lead LSU to a win after the Tigers started off the game down 17-0. Adding two touchdown passes to his stat line with 10 on the season, tied for second in the FBS through Week 3 in the fourth start of his college career.

“Garrett’s been in the program a long time,” Dixon said. “He stepped into an SEC Championship game after half, he stepped in that Bama game in the fourth quarter when Jayden Daniels got injured. So much more experience on Nussmeier’s higher side, but we are still going through what a first-time quarterback starting, as you noted, on the road, a first true road start in the SEC in a raucous environment can do.”

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Along with overcoming the noise of Williams-Brice Stadium, Nussmeier also had to overcome LSU’s defense, posting their worst performance of the season. A showing Tigers’ fans are hoping doesn’t become a trend this season similar to last year.

“It was going to turn into sort of a who’s got the ball last situation, I think if they were, able to kind of work themselves back into the game and he did it for him so kudos to Nussmeier for that,” Dixon said. “I think we’ll see him play a lot better moving forward in games, but this was his biggest test today I think even more so than Southern Cal, just because of how good South Carolina’s defense was getting pressure.”

Nussmeier and the Tigers have two non-conference games and a bye week before jumping back into their SEC schedule. Allowing their first-year starter under center to continue building on his strong start before playing in more high-stakes battles this year.