BATON ROUGE – LSU football quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart rank among the top two in the Southeastern Conference in a few different statistics.
Whether it's touchdown passes or completion percentage, both gunslingers are at the top or right behind the other, through the first seven weeks of the season, in leading a conference with a number of national watch lists quarterbacks.
The two's teams will meet in a top 10-matchup between the No. 10 Tigers (4-1, 1-0 SEC) and the No. 8 Rebels (5-1, 1-1), meaning Nussmeier and Dart have certainly won plenty of games to set up the monster showdown.
On the surface, Dart and Nussmeier are accomplishing similar things but how alike are they?
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"I think clearly the trait they both bring is incredible competitors," LSU coach Brian Kelly told The Daily Advertiser during the SEC's coaches teleconference Wednesday morning. "That's why both of these teams have a chance from an offensive perspective of being in every game because they have these quarterbacks."
Let's look deeper.
Tale of the tape: LSU's Garrett Nussmeier vs. Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart
Dart leads the SEC in completion percentage (73.4%) and passing yards per game (350). Nussmeier is right behind him in passing yards per game with 330 and is third in the league in completion percentage at 69.7%.
Nussmeier paces the conference with passing touchdowns with 15, and has played one less game than Dart, who sits second in the SEC in that category with 13 passing touchdowns.
But those stats don't tell the whole story on how similar Nussmeier and Dart have performed thus far this season. Advanced metrics for both are close as well.
Per Pro Football Focus, Dart and Nussmeier are separated by just five points in their offensive grade so far with Dart at 92.2 and Nussmeier at 87.2. Dart does have a lead over Nussmeier in passing grade at 91.8 to 84.2 but they're both top 30 in college football in both categories.
Their adjusted completion percentage, which measures the percentage of aimed passes thrown on target, is within percentage points of one another with Dart at 78.7 and Nussmeier at 75.4
In big-time throw evaluations, Dart has 12 through six games according to PFF while Nussmeier has nine through five games. Dart's percentage of those kinds of throws in 6.5% while Nussmeier is at 4.3%.
Where Nussmeier and Dart may be most different is in the scramble drill. Dart has had 10 undesigned quarterback runs due to pressure while Nussmeier has had just one.
What Brian Kelly, Lane Kiffin said about the quarterbacks ahead of LSU-Ole Miss game
Their games are not cookie-cutter same, but both Kelly and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin have observed some similarities between the two signal callers.
Outside of the numbers, which are strikingly close, how both Dart and Nussmeier approach the game draws plenty of parallels.
"When you start to separate the elite players across the country, their game rises when it's called upon. They play their best when their best is needed," Kelly said of both quarterbacks. "Both of these players regardless of arm strength or 40-time, both of them are born to be quarterbacks. They have skill sets that allow them to run the offense they're directing."
Kiffin echoed Kelly in that Dart and Nussmeier are asked to do different things for their team but how they fit and run their respective offenses looks similar. The skills sets are not the same but their makeup feels close.
"I think they both run their offenses really well," Kiffin said Wednesday. "I think they're both very competitive. But they are different players. But I think they both do a really good job."
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football's Garrett Nussmeier vs. Ole MIss' Jaxson Dart: Tale of the tape
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