GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has been dealing with a painful abdomen injury since preseason camp that likely has led to the frequent, uncharacteristically inaccurate passes he has thrown this season.
“I’ll be honest, and I wasn’t going to get into this, but with you guys I will, he’s been slowed a little bit with a torso injury,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said at his weekly press conference on Monday when asked if “there are mechanics he (Nussmeier) has gotten away from that he needs to refine.”
The torso is also known as the core and is primarily the abdomen, which obviously impacts throwing motion and is causing Nussmeier pain.
“He’s fighting through it,” Kelly said. “And he’s getting better. And he’s not going to be able to really shut it down until we get to the bye week.”
Nussmeier’s number are way off where he was last season. A Heisman Trophy favorite entering this season, Nussmeier is 69-of-106 passing for 689 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. His 229 yards passing a game is 46th in the nation and ninth in the Southeastern Conference. Last season, he finished sixth in the nation and second in the SEC with 311.7 yards passing a game.
Nussmeier is expected to start for No. 3 LSU (3-0, 1-0 SEC) against Southeastern Louisiana (2-1) on Saturday (6:45 p.m., SEC Network). LSU has its bye week following its Sept. 27 game at No. 13 Ole Miss (3-0, 2-0 SEC).
“And I’m not saying that had anything to do with his troubles,” Kelly said, but then sort of did. “We’re not ripping it. We’re taking some plays away from him as well (as LSU has played more toward its defense this season). We’ve got to keep him healthy. That’s the most important thing.”
Asked if Nussmeier’s injury has impacted strategy and play calling, Kelly said, “No. Come Saturday, he’s been good to go. We’ve limited him a little bit during the week because of some tightness that he’s had in his torso. It’s an upper body injury that you want to be careful with how many reps he’s getting throwing the football. He’s overcoming it.”
Retro football appears to be back to stay at LSU this season:https://t.co/g9iufj2AkA
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 15, 2025
But Kelly added that the offense has not been able to work as much in practice on the deep passing game because Nussmeier has been limited.
“We’re not working on it as much in practice,” Kelly said. “So when you get your shots (in the game), you want to be able to take them, but we’re not doing it a lot in practice. We’re starting to pick up that pace. We started it a little bit last week. We’ll continue to pick it up more this week.”
Kelly said he doesn’t expect the injury to be a nagging one throughout the season.
“In the bye week after Ole Miss, we should be in a great place,” he said. “It’s a product of a lot of throws. We worked a lot this summer – a lot of throws.”
Brian Kelly apologizes 3 times to Baton Rouge TV sports anchor for his rant Saturday night:https://t.co/l2HhTrZud9
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 15, 2025
Nussmeier threw very little over the last week or so of practice before the season opener at Clemson.
“This was really about more of a management thing in shutting him down a little bit during the week,” Kelly said. “I think he’s on the other side of it. But we have to be careful with him.”
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