Let’s play “Where did Nuss throw this ball”

This is the part where people come in and say that the coaches know better than us, and if the backup were the answer, they'd have already made the move.

Well I could point to many, many examples, but I'll use one that should drive the point home firmly: Some might remember that mister genius, Nick Saban, had Josh Booty starting all year in his first year on the job, with decent results, but when LSU was getting their butts kicked at halftime by Georgia Tech in the Peach Bowl, he put in Rohan Davey, who absolutely torched them, and went on the following season to have what was probably, at the time, the best season for a QB in LSU history.

The point being, coaches sometimes put too much stock in what they see in practice, and don't put the best option on the field, as a result. Some guys are just gamers and not practice players, for whatever reason. The Ole Miss QB was said to be very unimpressive in practice, which is why he didn't get on the field until an injury. And how is that going for them?

Van Buren could come in and be terrible. But how much worse could it get from what we're seeing right now? You won't know until you give him a chance.

And the kid had 8 starts last year. It's not like he doesn't know anything about playing at this level. Even if all he does is throw short passes, his ability to run would be a net positive, similar to how Jordan Jefferson provided a spark for us in 2011 (except when facing Alabama the second time). We're not asking for perfection, we're asking for an improvement of any kind.

Nuss managed to kill all the manufactured hype within four weeks. Impressive.

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There are a few things that bother me, aside from the results.


1. Kelly says, almost emphatically, that Garrett is fine. He isn't. He didn't look fine in that game. More importantly, Garrett's evasiveness to answer any questions about a rumored injury is even weirder.

Something doesn't add up.


I am not calling for Kelly to be fired but he also needs to understand that the fans aren't idiots and won't accept what he says, at least in regard to how Garrett is playing.

There's coach speak and then there's something else.

I still support him but he has to take a step back and look at what's going on in his program.


I'm not calling for a change at QB but if Garrett is hurt, he shouldn't play. Or at least play much.


If there's a silver lining, at least LSU has a bye week this week and can get rested, and I'm talking about everyone. Players, coaches, fans.....

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The reason Garrett isnt answering it is because he's not hurt. What doesn't add up is Garrett isnt living up to hype created by people remembering his 4k yard season last year in a different light than it actually was. He was poor last year too. The hype this year surrounding him was in hope that he'd take the next step like Joe Burrow did from 2018 to 2019 as a 5th year senior. The problem is, even in 2018, Burrow was levels above Nuss at reading defenses, making decisions, throwing the ball, and running the ball.

This year he's making the same mistakes he made in big games last year. You can find horrible decisions peppered throughout the season last season. 3 turnovers against Bama, 3 turnovers against A&M, a pick in the first game against USC, a pick on an underthrown deep ball against Ole Miss in the 4th quarter, the pick late in the game against South Carolina that was luckily nullified by a stupid penalty that happened behind the player returning it for a pick 6. That pick would've lost the South Carolina game if not for the penalty. This idea that he was something different in 2024 isn't true.

He, along with a pretty bad defense, lead the team to 4 losses and a Texas Bowl trip. This year the defense is much improved but he's still going to lead you to 3 or 4 losses and a Texas Bowl with terrible decision making and poor throws.

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The reason Garrett isnt answering it is because he's not hurt.

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He could easily say “I’m not hurt”, “There’s nothing wrong”, or something similar, but that isn’t how he answered the question.

It’s also obvious when watching him that something is going on no matter how he answers the question.

ETA: Whatever injury he’s dealing with didn’t cause him to make the bad decision on this play, but it is absolutely limiting his ability to drive the ball.

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More importantly, Garrett's evasiveness to answer any questions about a rumored injury is even weirder. Something doesn't add up.

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What sort of injury causes someone to make bad decisions and throw shite passes over the span of multiple seasons?

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What is being lost in this pic is three rushers and one is free.

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My first thought was 'WTF are the OL doing in that pic?" You probably lose some context in a static shot, but that just looks odd.

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MVB won't be any better when 3 guys are getting pressure. Check out that shitty OL play

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Maybe, but he'll gash them for three or four yards every time and maybe 15 or 20 once a drive. It'll force them to spend an extra person babysitting him that will free up a receiver or rb.

I said at the time it happened, that I can't emphasize enough how big of a play that was and you summed up why.

The other HUGE play was the pic 6 PI called on Pickett, I think that was a BS call and that's a 14 point swing, but that one is out of our control it's a refs judgement call. The one you illustrate is not. Bad decision, bad throw - momentum changing.

Our offense still is our biggest issue but these two plays were game changers...momentum changers - in a big way.

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What is being lost in this pic is three rushers and one is free.

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I get that, but that still means he made a poor decision. There is a guy directly in front of him, wide open, and it is a much easier throw. If he wants to be a high draft pick, he will need to show better decision making under pressure.