LSU QB battle: Frank Wilson reaffirms belief in Garrett Nussmeier, teases Michael Van Buren reps

LSU opted to lift starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier from a loss to Texas A&M after the veteran had been banged up quite a bit. Backup Michael Van Buren took over and looked decent in his stead.

But is there any notion of a quarterback controversy in Baton Rouge? Not so, according to interim coach Frank Wilson.

“Fair question. I think Garrett is our starting quarterback,” Wilson said Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “I think he gives us a great opportunity to be efficient with our offense. I think Michael has a skill set that adds value to our football team that will be called upon that can help us win the game.”

That skill set Wilson is referring to is that Van Buren is considerably more mobile than Garrett Nussmeier, particularly with Nussmeier ailing. That could be something the Tigers look to take advantage of, particularly behind an offensive line that is struggling.

There’s no doubt that Nussmeier is the starter, though. Wilson made that clear.

“At the end of the day we’re going to do what it takes to win the game,” Wilson said. “But Garrett Nussmeier is our starting quarterback. Michael Van Buren does have a skill set that can add value and help this football team win. And our intentions are to position ourselves to be able to do those things to give us every opportunity to win the football game.”

Garrett Nussmeier dealing with ab injury

The ABC broadcast on Saturday night in the game against Texas A&M shed some light on the injury Nussmeier is dealing with. It’s apparently an ab issue.

“Garrett Nussmeier, we saw him get a little bit more injured in the first half, that left ab injury just below his belly button,” sideline reporter Holly Rowe reported on the air. “They are able to do some things at halftime to help him, some topical numbing cream, put some more padding on, massage.

“Coach (Brian) Kelly said it best: ‘He’s our guy. We can put him together with glue or tape we’re going to do it, because he wants to be out there. He’s so tough.'”

That was during the game. Nussmeier would later be benched as Texas A&M started to run away with the contest. Kelly explained the decision to bench Garrett Nussmeier after the game.

“Well, I would’ve been disappointed too,” Kelly said. “If you took me out of the game in that situation, I would have been disappointed too, but it was a bigger picture. We were struggling in protection. I thought it would have been unfair to have him in the game, under those circumstances, with where the game was clearly out of reach. To have him get injured in that situation, I thought would have been malpractice from my standpoint.”