“Outplayed Our Quarterback” – LSU Coach Brian Kelly Threw Garrett Nussmeier Under The Bus In Table Pounding Press Conference

A wave of write-ups and stories are coming in from last night to today about how LSU head coach Brian Kelly pounded the podium in frustration after the Tigers lost their season opener to USC 27-20 on Saturday. It's definitely noteworthy, as Kelly couldn't hide his anger about his team's failure to finish the deal, which for the time being puts a dent in their College Football Playoff hopes. Kelly at least took accountability for his part in the fourth-quarter letdown, as the Trojans outscored his team 14-3 to get out of Vegas with the win. https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1830469311682715810 But I would argue the bigger news to emerge from what will probably be one of the more talked-about press conferences of the season was Kelly's endorsement of USC quarterback Miller Moss over his own, Garrett Nussmeier. https://twitter.com/CollegeFBPortal/status/1830464824985223306 In an era of frequent player mobility via the free-for-all transfer portal, Nussmeier stuck it out at LSU from the turbulent end to Ed Orgeron's tenure through Kelly's ongoing reign. He waited patiently as he kept being passed up for a promotion to the starting lineup, even watching another transfer, ex-Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels , come to Baton Rouge and win the Heisman Trophy in his second season as a starter. That of course set Daniels up to be the second overall pick and the new face of the Washington Commanders franchise. Having attempted only 219 passes over the past three years entering Saturday night, Nussmeier acquitted himself quite well in completing 29 of 38 passes for 304 yards and two TDs. His interception came in the final seconds in a totally desperate situation. To me, the fact that USC pulled off the comeback had as much to do with the Tigers' inability to run the ball in the last quarter as it did with the brilliance of Nussmeier's counterpart Miller Moss. Not to say Moss wasn't excellent to begin his first full season taking the reins from reigning No. 1 pick Caleb Williams — 27-for-36, 378 yards and a score is a hell of a stat line — but Kelly made it sound like Nussmeier almost didn't belong on the same field. Like he was questioning his " clutch gene" to invoke an infamous Skip Bayless-ism . Kelly is brutally honest about quarterback play, at times to a fault. His glowing praise of Daniels was merited, and I'll never forget when he publicly proclaimed that DeShone Kizer wasn't ready for the NFL when he left Notre Dame early. Turned out to be right on that front. Damn, though — talk about possibly wrecking your quarterback's confidence. Nussmeier finally gets his shot, seizes the opportunity quite well in a high-pressure Week 1 test, only to get put on blast by his own coach for everyone to see. You could argue that a QB who can't handle this tough-love scrutiny isn't meant to hack it. I hear that. However, we saw how detrimental a coach's negativity can be on a quarterback's development when Tua Tagovailoa began his NFL career under Brian Flores . https://twitter.com/LeBatardShow/status/1825525301029294167 Tua played for Nick Freaking Saban in college. Not like that man is all sunshine and rainbows. All I'm saying is, if Kelly is going this far in front of the media, what type of reinforcement might he be giving to Nussmeier in practice? During games? Can't imagine it's terribly positive! Kelly didn't have to go this far to discredit Nussmeier's impressive night. At least the Tigers put up a good fight and both teams gave us a worthy top-25 matchup, whereas all the other ones from Week 1 were complete duds rife with bad football. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZSj_M2ay6s