Garrett Nussmeier Looked Like Paul Skenes, And His “Catchers” Better Get Used To The Velo

September 21, 2025 Glenn Guilbeau LSU Football 0
QB Garrett Nussmeier was a crisp 25 of 31 for 273 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers' 56-10 win over Southeastern Louisiana Saturday night, and that was with several drops. (Tiger Rag photo by Michael Bacigalupi).

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU right-hander Garrett Nussmeier had his fastball back Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.

You could tell, because they kept bouncing off his wide receivers’ hands or facemask, particulary Oklahoma transfer Nic Anderson, who apparently wasn’t used to this velocity. And Nussmeier was throwing strikes as often as former LSU pitcher Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nussmeier, coming off the nursing of an injured abdomen since August, looked close to 100 percent and maybe 100 mph as he completed 25 of 31 darts for 273 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-10 win over Southeastern Louisiana Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.

“That was a Paul Skenes fastball,” ABC analyst Jordan Rodgers said after a laser burned right through Anderson’s hands at the Lions’ 2-yard line with 24 seconds left in the second quarter. But Rodgers was discussing the instant replay – not the live action. As that happened, he had said the pass was broken up, but it was too fast.

“I thought it had been deflected,” he said. It wasn’t.

Wide receiver Zavion Thomas later caught a 9-yard TD on the same drive.

Anderson will be ready next time. So, will Rodgers the next time he does an LSU game.

On LSU’s previous drive, a similar thing happened. Rodgers thought a Southeastern Louisiana defensive back had broken up a Nussmeier fastball to wide receiver Zavion Thomas in the end zone on 2nd-and-1 from the Lions’ 13-yard line with 4:12 to go. Upon further review, though, Thomas wasn’t ready for it, and the TD went by his hands and bounced off his facemask.

“Should’ve caught that,” Rodgers said.

Wide receiver Barion Brown later caught a 17-yard TD on the same drive.

There were other incompletions that should have been caught along with two flat drops early in the first quarter by Brown and by wide receiver Aaron Anderson. Another one went through Nic Anderson’s hands.

And Nussmeier threw perfectly on yet another occasion deep to Nic Anderson on first down from Southeastern’s 35-yard line with 9:35 left in the second quarter that should’ve been a touchdown. Again in live action, it looked like the defensive back broke it up. But on replay, Anderson could’ve caught the perfect pass in the end zone. LSU later scored anyway on a 10-yard run by Ju’Juan Johnson.

JU’JUAN JOHNSON HAD THE HOT HAND AT RUNNING BACK FOR LSU

“Very easily could’ve hit a post for a touchdown,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “Couple of very challenging catches.”

I counted six potential catches in all – three pure drops and three difficult ones – that weren’t. Catch ’em all, and Nussmeier is 31-for-31 for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns.

“His ball placement was very good,” Kelly said.

LSU’s receivers need to get some better gloves and the mindset that it’s their ball, and they’ll be ready for the healthier Nussmeier.

Nussmeier looks ready for the next six games – all in the Southeastern Conference – beginning Saturday when No. 4 LSU (4-0, 1-0 SEC) plays at No. 3 Ole Miss (4-0, 2-0 SEC) at 2:30 p.m. on ABC. The Tigers dropped a spot in the poll Sunday.

The zip and accuracy are back. And so are the mechanics, which were frequently off through his first three games..

“They were so much smoother,” Kelly said. “So was his awareness in the pocket, and his ability to get the ball out in the vertical seams.”

It can be painful to throw with an abdomen injury. Quarterbacks and pitchers naturally adjust to the pain or discomfort and get away from their mechanics.

“We’ve seen Garrett Nussmeier dealing with a little bit of an injury – aggravated an ab in his torso early in fall camp,” Rodgers said as LSU’s first drive opened Saturday night.

“It kind of flared up against Clemson,” Rodgers said. “Against Louisiana Tech (two weeks ago), you saw the inaccuracies down field. Now, he’s as healthy as he’s been.”

And he looked it.

“Yeah, I’d say that,” Kelly said when asked after the game if he would “describe” Nussmeier “as 100 percent” in the Southeastern game.

“We had talked about during the week that he was on the other side of the injury, and he felt really good,” Kelly continued. “And that’s why we actually ran him a little bit. He felt good running.”

Nussmeier usually doesn’t like to run when he’s healthy. He’d prefer to unleash another one to an open receiver, or one not so open at times. Not on this night. He busted a career-high 26-yard scramble in the second quarter on a 3rd-and-11 play for a first down at the Lions’ 10-yard line that set up a TD and 21-0 lead.

“That was a big stresser for me this off-season, so still trying to get better at it,” Nussmeier said of his wheels.

“We knew during the week that he was healthy just by the way he was throwing the football,” Kelly said. “So, yeah, I would say that’s the version you’ll get the rest of the year.”

That’s the best news in Tiger Town since LSU re-discovered the theory of real defense at Clemson last month.

Nussmeier didn’t want to talk about the pitch count Kelly and company placed him on over the last two weeks of preseason camp in August. Skenes hated his very strict pitch count in Triple-A Indianapolis and in is rookie year at Pittsburgh in 2024, too. And Nussmeier doesn’t want to talk about his injury now, either.

You know how superstitious pitchers are.

“Uh, I’m not going to answer any questions on the torso, or the injury, or anything like that,” Nussmeier said Saturday when asked if he was limited. “Right now, I’m just kind of excited how we played tonight, how we came together as a unit, and kind of established that rhythm that we’ve been looking for all year.”

He did answer the first injury question a moment before, though, which was, “How do you feel, torso-wise, just overall health-wise?”

He said, “Yeah, I’m getting better. We’re getting better as an offense. Just trying baby steps and keep going.”

Later, a reporter re-visited the injury question.

“Coach Kelly said you weren’t able to work on the deep passes (in previous game weeks). Did that really change this week?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m not going to answer that,” Nussmeier said. “I’m sorry. Keeping out of that. Right now, just excited about the way we played tonight.”

Another reporter asked if he didn’t want to discuss the injury because of NFL Draft concerns.

“Huh?” Nussmeier asked.

“Draft concerns?”

“No, no, no, no,” he said. “I’m focused on – it’s September. That’s a long way away (April). I’m worried about us right now.”

Funny, that was basically Skenes’ stock answer on the draft, too, when he was at LSU before he went No. 1 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, shortly after leading LSU to the national championship.

We’ll soon see how long this comparison lasts.

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