LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier "not going to answer" health questions

With the first month of the 2025 season complete, LSU heads into the first bye week with a 4-1 record.

The lone loss came on Saturday night in Oxford, and one of the game’s biggest talking points was the ongoing debate as to how big of a role is an injury to the team’s starting quarterback.

When LSU beat Florida to move to 3-0 just two weeks ago, LSU head coach Brian Kelly revealad Garrett Nussmeier began the season with a torso injury – which would explain some of the outcomes in the passng game across the first few weeks of the season.

Then, Nussmeier looked sharp throwing and running in a blowout win over Southeastern, and Kelly said his starter was as healthy as he’d been since fall camp – and Nussmeier’s play on the field backed it up.

Then came a 24-19 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, an SEC road trip that saw Nussmeier go 21-of-34 passing for 197 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. It was one of his worst showings to date, and the same goes for an offense that couldn’t run the football and are averaging fewer than 20 points per game across the 4-1 start to the season.

When asked after the game the status of his injury, Nussmeier was mum on one of the fanbase’s biggest talking points.

“I’m not going to answer any questions about my health right now,” Nussmeier said.

Kelly’s response wasn’t far from the same: “All I can tell you is that he’s healthy.”

While Nussmeier nor Kelly divulged much on Nussmeier’s injury as the Tigers turn the focus to the bye week, Kelly did go in-depth on what has to happen for the offense to turn things around before facing South Carolina in two weeks.

“Garrett Nussmeier has got to 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 Garrett, you know. We’ve got to get open. Our coaches got to get our guys in a position where they can make some plays. And, look, you saw it. We struggled with completing the deep ball, where they did very very well completing the deep ball.

“I mean, the quarterback is going to get micro-managed when you lose games. I get that,” said Kelly later. “Look, all I can tell you is, you know, he’s healthy. And, you know, again, I think he would tell you, just like Tyree Adams would tell you, just like Chris Hilton would tell you, Bauer Sharp would tell you. We need to play better and more consistent on the offensive side of the ball.

“I don’t want to go too long on the answer, but this is not a Garrett Nussmeier problem. This is an entire football team of guys doing their job at a higher level.”

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