Garrett Nussmeier, Brian Kelly field questions about quarterback's health after Ole Miss loss

Following a 24-19 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, LSU coach Brian Kelly was peppered with questions about his quarterback. Garrett Nussmeier simply did not look like himself in the loss.

The LSU quarterback finished 21-of-34 passing for 197 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. But he just didn’t quite seem to have his customary zip on the ball.

That’s an issue that has appeared multiple times this season, thus prompting the questions. But for their part, Nussmeier and coach Brian Kelly mostly denied there were any lingering health concerns.

“I’m not going to answer any questions about my health right now,” Nussmeier said. And after facing a couple questions about Garrett Nussmeier himself, Kelly also was asked point blank about the quarterback’s health.

“Look, all I can tell you is that he’s healthy,” Kelly said. Whatever the case, it remains a topic of discussion.

On paper, there isn’t a ton that jumps out as an obvious concern for Garrett Nussmeier. His completion percentage is actually a career best at 68.6%.

If there’s an area with some drop-off it’s probably his average yards per completion. He’s at 7.0, the lowest total he’s had since his first year in 2021. That does jive with his struggles pushing the ball down the field.

Kelly, instead, simply pointed toward his quarterback not playing well enough. However, LSU did have multiple offensive linemen out against Ole Miss and the Rebels made life difficult by living in the backfield.

“Garrett Nussmeier’s gotta play better,” Kelly said. “Every player on offense has got to play better. And then we have to be more consistent on defense. I mean, there’s not one guy that you will point out, and go, well, that was the reason why we lost. There’s many, many players that have to play their best when their best is needed. We weren’t very good on third down, right? We’ve been a really good third down team. We have to be better on third down, and that’s not just on Garrett.”

Kelly pointed to problems elsewhere as contributing to Garrett Nussmeier’s current struggles. LSU fans will certainly be hoping that’s all it is and not some mystery injury he’s dealing with.

“We’ve got to get open,” Kelly said. “Our coaches have got to get our guys in a position where they can make some plays. And look, you saw it; we struggled with completing a deep ball. They did very, very well completing the deep ball. So again. I don’t want to go too long on the answer, but this is not a Garrett Nussmeier problem.”