Garrett Nussmeier played a risky gamble last season by staying in Brian Kelly’s LSU, even when he had options to move out. Against Ole Miss, he hit his career low, 21-for-34 for 197 yards. Nussmeier’s interception problem (five interceptions), too, is keeping the Tigers’ squad awake at night. “I felt like I was letting everyone down,” Nussmeier admitted, as he made a disheartening confession about personal struggles. 

On October 14, USA Today Network analyst Cory Diaz dropped a clip of Nussmeier’s latest interview. “What changed and what kind of led to, I guess, your performance from last week?” came the question.

“Yeah, I think just for one, just everything that I was kind of going through in the first couple weeks was obviously very frustrating and, you know, I think I let it get to me a little bit, just a feeling of helplessness at times, a lot of frustration,” replied Nussmeier, visibly down, reflecting his performances.

Even though Nussmeier had a shaky showing in LSU’s 20-10 win over South Carolina, he looked far better than he did at the start of the season. The performance piqued the fans’ interest in what clicked for the QB. LSU enters Week 8 ranked as the No. 10 team in the country in the AP Poll. Against South Carolina, Brian Kelly’s quarterback aired it out with confidence, but two interceptions and some bruising blows told the other half of the story.

With this, Nussmeier’s current QBR is 75.9, No. 30 nationally and No. 7 among passers in the SEC. He is yet to eclipse 300 yards passing in a game this season, the closest coming against the Louisiana Lions, racking up 273 yards. What sprinkled salt on his wounds was his injury. Beneath LSU’s early-season struggles lay a quieter battle as Nussmeier pushed through pain from not one, but two injuries. A knee flare-up and torso tightness have tested his body and the Tigers’ rhythm.

But thank God, Kelly did not lose his patience. The head coach kept Nussmeier fighting the tide, hoping calmer waters lay ahead. As the quarterback poured his heart out, “I’m just having fun playing football, and trying to get back to that, just being me and playing the game that I love to play. And so I think I lost that for a minute there in frustration. And so, Coach challenged me with that to be myself and to bring that swagger back. So I’m just going to continue to try and keep doing that.”

However, Nussmeier has a serious problem that needs correcting.

From setbacks to small wins: Nussmeier’s inconsistent path continues

Notably, Nussmeier looked healthier in the last game, which enabled him to accumulate 254 passing yards and 7.5 rushing yards per carry against South Carolina. But he still made some terrible mistakes that led to a pair of interceptions. Nussmeier was tied for the SEC lead with 12 interceptions last season. Cut to 2025, and the quarterback has yet to overcome his lingering flaw. 

Six games into this season, Nussmeier’s interception count stands at five, tied for the third-most in the SEC. Talking about his faulty plays? There have been quite a lot. Too often, Nussmeier rolled out of the pocket and forced throws over the middle instead of tossing it away. That gave the opposing defense a chance, and they gladly cashed in. 

The South Carolina game became Nussmeier’s first multi-interception outing since tossing two against Alabama last November. It seems that Kelly is not solely blaming Nussmeier; others are also in the hot seat. The LSU head coach said, “The turnovers, those are details that have to be cleaned up. Tough territory coming out, we’ve got to be much better. We’ve got to set up field position with first downs in those tough territory areas.”

Baby steps today could mean notable strides tomorrow. All eyes are on how far Nussmeier can take the Tigers’ ride.