Things at LSU got tense when the star QB, Garrett Nussmeier, was benched in the fourth quarter. The move comes in the aftermath of a pretty subpar season from the QB so far. But it’s fair to assume that this was still an unexpected move. Now, Nussmeier’s teammate and LB, Whit Weeks, shared his thoughts on the unfortunate season.

Whit Weeks, despite Nussmeier’s struggles, is still 100% with his QB. “I think he did a great job with it,” Weeks told the press about how Garrett Nussmeier handled the benching. It’s tough to find oneself there, especially after carrying the team steadily for the past 3 years. But Nussmeier didn’t complain and showed why he is still an important figure.

“He is the leader of this team. …[That] dude is a stud. Like, mentally, all he goes through, man, like I don’t even really know how he does it. But he’s a true definition of a leader,” Weeks added.

Garrett Nussmeier could have entered the draft last year, but decided to continue at LSU to improve his 2026 draft stock. He was even touted to be a potential No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft. However, a torso injury seems to be limiting the QB a lot. The benching and his underwhelming numbers now put his future in serious jeopardy.

But in the LSU locker room, he remains a hero. For the past 3 years, the QB has been the face of the team. Nussmeier was honored with the No. 18 jersey, which is the de facto sign of the leadership at Baton Rouge. He is the first QB to have received the number since Matt Mauck. A lot was riding on Nussmeier’s shoulder this season. However, the LSU offense is simply shot this season, even with him in play. The offensive line was pretty much non-existent against Alabama. It’s quite an upsetting time for a QB who finished 2 in season passing yards in program history.

Frank Wilson sure had a lot to say about the troubling quarterback situation that developed on his team.

Frank Wilson explains the reasoning behind benching Garrett Nussmeier

Frank Wilson’s first game as interim HC did not go as planned. Benching Garrett Nussmeier was a big call, but it was necessary. He messed up a 3 and goal opportunity in the 4 quarter to be sacked for a 14-yard loss. Van Buren stepped in and seemed to be a better option as a dual-threat QB. Wilson opened up on his thoughts on the surprising move, which will surely be talked about for some time.

“So as we discussed as a staff, we knew there could be opportunities in the quarterback run game, and then at the back end, as they tried to bring closure to it, they would make it difficult to just sit in the pocket. And so we wanted to move them around and do some things. We thought that he gave us a chance to do those things,” Wilson told the press after the game.

“We thought it was an opportunity to change up and throw their defense off, so we went with the change. I don’t know if it’s something he did badly; we just thought it would be an advantage in what Michael could give us,” the stand-in HC added more about the swap.

However, Wilson also lauded Nussmeier for being a sport. “I was very proud of how he supported his teammate and his team,” he said. He also confirmed that the star QB will continue to be the starter. However, the damage this benching has done is way too much to control for Nussmeier.