GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw for a career-high 409 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers’ 42-10 win over South Alabama Saturday night.
But if you noticed, coach Brian Kelly lit into him on the sidelines in the second half, turned around, then went back to him and continued with his rant. Nussmeier had also thrown two ill-advised interceptions before Kelly went all Nick Saban.
“It was just a normal conversation between a coach and a player,” Nussmeier said, spinning a comment as well as he does a football. It clearly was not that.
“He expects a lot of me, and that’s how I want it to be,” he said. “I’ve been coached hard my whole life.”
That part is not spin. Nussmeier, a fourth-year junior who is fourth in major college football with 1,652 passing yards this season, was coached by his father – former NFL quarterback and current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback coach Dave Nussmeier.
“It started when I was a kid with my dad,” the young Nussmeier said. “He was always very hard on me, and very enthusiastic and very loud. Coach Sloan will be as well when we watch the tape.”
That’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan, who didn’t like the interceptions either.
“If anyone has been to an LSU practice, they know how coach Sloan coaches me,” Nussmeier said. “There’s a little bit of that (yelling) in there once in a while as well.”
Sloan and Kelly will be working with Nussmeier, who tends to sling it and ask questions later, during this break in the schedule. After an open date this weekend, the No. 13 Tigers (4-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) host No. 12 Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1 SEC) on Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m. on ABC. A couple of careless interceptions in that game could lose it.
“Yeah, I made some mistakes,” Nussmeier said. “Two plays that I want back. The first one, I got outside the pocket. It was a throw that I make normally in my sleep. I’ll beat myself over it for the next couple of weeks. The second one was a mistake that I shouldn’t have done. I’ve got to be better.”
Nussmeier is third in the nation with 15 touchdown passes, but he is only 31st in the all-encompassing passing efficiency statistic at 160.7 on 138-of-198 passing (.696 completion percentage) for 1,652 yards and 15 touchdowns with four interceptions.
“The one right before the half, he tried to force a ball in there,” Kelly said. “We’d like him to be much more prudent and drop the ball down. The second interception – those are plays where he knows better. You’re moving to the right. You have better options there. He knew he needed to do a better job with the ball.”
But Nussmeier, in his first season as the starter, has been probably the brightest spot of LSU’s season so far.
“I’m not panicked about what happened,” Kelly said. “There are some interceptions where you go, ‘Oh my God!’ That’s not this. These are decisions that are easily correctable.”
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