Frank Wilson reveals both Garrett Nussmeier, Michael Van Buren will play vs. Arkansas

LSU benched starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier in the third quarter of the Tigers’ 20-9 loss to Alabama. Michael Van Buren replaced Nussmeier and finished the game. On Monday, LSU interim coach Frank Wilson revealed what LSU’s plan is at quarterback moving forward.

“Garrett did well enough at times to still be in position to be the starter as we start and embark upon this weekend,” Wilson said. “When we go to corrections today and practice tomorrow, he’ll be the first guy that goes in.”

On paper, Nussmeier’s performance appeared solid. Before being subbed out, he completed 18-of-his-21 pass attempts for 121 yards. He threw neither a touchdown, nor an interception.

However, Nussmeier had a lackluster moment when he spun into an Alabama defender in the red zone despite the Crimson Tide only sending three pass rushers. On the broadcast, Frank Wilson could be seen tearing into Nussmeier for the mistake.

Garrett Nussmeier entered the season as a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, but has had an underwhelming campaign, while dealing with a torso injury. Nussmeier is only averaging 214.1 passing yards per game, ranking 11th among all starting SEC quarterbacks.

After replacing Nussmeier on Saturday, Van Buren completed 5-of-his-11 pass attempts for 52 yards. While Nussmeier is entering this week as LSU’s QB1, Wilson said both quarterbacks will play against Arkansas on Saturday.

“Both of them did some good things. I thought both of those guys did things that need to be improved upon,” Wilson said. “Garrett, at times, was spectacular. He started off red-hot. He did some really good things for us.

“I felt at the back end, we needed a spark and something to get us going and add another dimension to our game. I thought Michael stepped in and gave those things to us as a football team. As of now, nothing has drastically changed in how we have flowed. … We’re going to use everything that we have, and both of those guys will play in this game moving forward.”

LSU’s loss to Alabama this past weekend was the Tigers’ first game since firing head coach Brian Kelly. Wilson’s comments on Monday echoed the explanation he gave for benching Nussmeier after the game Saturday.

“We knew there could be opportunities in the quarterback run game and then at the back end, as they tried to bring pressure, they would make it difficult to just sit in the pocket,” Wilson said. “We tried to move him around and he gave us a chance to do some things. We thought [Van Buren] gave us a chance to do those things, so that went into the decision.”

LSU will square off against Arkansas at 12:45 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will air live on the SEC Network.