Kelly says LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier is playing through injury

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier was coming off of a 4,000 yard passing season and one of the favorites for the Heisman trophy entering the 2025 season. However, through three games, it’s been a more inconsistent start than most had hoped for as Nussmeier has just 689 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions so far.

While LSU is 3-0, the offense is struggling to find its footing early on, but there may be an underlying explanation for at least some of the limitations.

Brian Kelly said Nussmeier has been dealing with a torso injury that limited him late in fall camp and into the season, but he’s progressing towards getting over it.

“He’s been slowed a little bit with a torso injury and he’s fighting through it and getting better. He’s not going to be able to shut it down until the bye week. I’m not saying that has been any of his troubles. He’s a symptom that we’re taking some plays away from him.”

“We’ve limited him throughout the week. It’s an upper body injury that you want to be careful how may reps he’s getting throwing the football. He’s overcoming that, but we had to be careful with him in the first few weeks. He should be in a great place after the bye week. It happened in camp. It’s a product of a lot of throws. This is more of management throughout the week. I think he’s on the other side of it, but we had to be careful.”

LSU’s vertical passing attack has been limited and surprisingly quiet so far this year and Nussmeier’s upper body injury may have played a part in that. The primary concern for Kelly is that they are not practicing the deep shot plays as much as they want to during the week as they try to rest Nussmeier’s arm.

“We’re not working on it as much in practice so when you get your shots you want to take them, but you’re not working on it in practice,” Kelly said. “We’re starting to pick up the pace now.”

Overall, the offense still has to find some consistency in the run game to help balance this offensive attack out, but as Nussmeier gets more healthy, the passing attack should become more dynamic and less predictable.

Nussmeier has one of the best arms in college football, but through three games, it’s been far too inconsistent. If LSU can revitalize the run game and get Nussmeier comfortable, the sky is the limit for this talented offensive attack.

“We didn’t give up a sack and that’s a really good defense, so I’m pleased there. If we need to go out there and throw the ball 50 times, we can do that. We’re going to have to score more than 20 points sometimes in the SEC, so this is about developing our run game. This is about developing your weaknesses.”