LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier's advanced metrics have him on special trajectory for 2024 season

LSU fans might not have liked how the season began in the win-loss column against USC, but after another dominant showing against Nicholls College on Saturday Garrett Nussmeier looks like he might still be good enough to carry the team to special places this season.

Although the defense started slowly, Nussmeier and the offense did not. He finished with his second 300+ passing yard performance in a row, but this time instead of tossing just two touchdowns he threw for six. But his raw yardage and touchdown totals aren't what makes him most impressive.

Raw production totals are nice, but when they build up against lower level competition or get compiled chasing certain game scripts they can be misleading. The good news is that Garrett Nussmeier's game stands up to scrutiny when you look at more meaningful metrics regardless of the quality of his first two opponents.

Against USC, Nussmeier found success against a number of coverage types, but more importantly dominated when both standing amid a clean pocket and under pressure. In fact, while the average FBS quarterback sees their passing efficiency drop over 20% when pressured, Nussmeier actually averaged over two yards more per pass attempt against pass rush pressure.

And while many quarterbacks lean on schematic help like excessive pre-snap motion, play action, and a high volume of screens, Nussmeier found success on some of the most basic schematic concepts without any frills like play action or easy lay-up screen plays, for the most part. The average FBS quarterback integrates play action or pre-snap motion into more than 30% of their pass attempts in today's game (which artificially inflates efficiency), but Nussmeier leaned on those type of plays less than 25% of the time against USC.

And again, against Nicholls, Nussmeier didn't lean on many schematic tricks to create his highly efficient production. He just made the right quick reads all throughout the game and averaged 11.1 adjusted yards per pass attempt, good for a 99th percentile pass efficiency performance in Week 2.

This may sound like a lot of numbers to digest, but in short, Nussmeier is quite seriously looking like a Heisman Trophy candidate and potential early round NFL Draft pick based on his mix of high volume and efficiency as a passer. If this continues, LSU might just win out and head to the first ever 12-Team College Football Playoff.

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