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If momentum truly matters, LSU has plenty of it heading into a critical 2025 season
By Les East
Published:
LSU had a disappointing season in 2024.
But the Tigers finished the season in a way that suggests 2025 might be better, maybe even a lot better.
LSU was looking pretty good with a 6-1 record, then it lost to Texas A&M, then to Alabama, then to Florida.
Suddenly a disappointing season started to look like a disastrous season, and the Tigers’ money men started pondering whether the $60-million-plus necessary to buy out head coach Brian Kelly might be manageable.
But then Kelly’s team beat Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and a Baylor team that had won 6 consecutive games in the Texas Bowl. They finished 9-4 — a notable step back from the 10-win seasons Kelly produced in each of his first 2 seasons.
Along the way, some key players entered the transfer portal and declared for the NFL Draft. But at the same time, a bunch of players showed that LSU’s portal entrance was as well traveled as its exit.
Even though the portal produced a net loss of talent for the bowl game, the Tigers played one of their best games of the season.
Maybe most important, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier announced that he wasn’t going pro, or seeking greener pastures via the portal. Instead he was ready to seek greener pastures by sticking around. He wasn’t the only one, either. Harold Perkins announced he was returning in 2025 after injuries ended this season and led to questions about whether he had played his final snaps as a Tiger — or collegian.
So maybe the pastures in Baton Rouge are going to be greener in 2025 than they were in 2024 and maybe even greener than they were in Kelly’s first 2 seasons in 2022 and 2023.
No one knows, of course, but the last 5 weeks of 2024 provided a lot more hope for 2025 than the first 2 1/2 months did.
Though the berth in the Texas Bowl fell well short of the expectation when LSU began the season ranked No. 13 in the AP poll, the performance there was encouraging.
The high expectations for this team were based largely on the expectation that the Tigers would have one of the best offensive lines in the country. But the fact that the line wasn’t as good as billed was a major factor in the team not being as good as billed.
Tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr. skipped the bowl game, and guard Garrett Dellinger missed the last 5 games because of injury. In their absence, LSU did just fine against Baylor and head coach Dave Aranda, who was hired 5 years ago primarily because of the job he did as associate head coach and defensive coordinator for the Tigers when they won the 2019 national championship.
The makeshift line got the better of Aranda’s defense and Nussmeier thrived behind it, completing 24-of-34 for 313 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Nussmeier’s last day of 2024 was a lot like his opening day of 2024. He made his first college start 365 days earlier and completed 31-of-45 for 337 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in a 35-31 victory against Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Kelly rightfully praised the players who stuck around for the manner in which they prepared for the bowl game and performed in winning the 3rd consecutive bowl during his tenure and setting the tone for the offseason as a launching point for the 2025 regular season.
Some way-too-early projections have LSU making the 2025 College Football Playoff. Time will tell, but the clock is ticking.
The cupboard was pretty bare when Kelly took over from Ed Orgeron, Kelly’s success at restocking has been mixed, but 3 straight seasons of being mostly irrelevant nationally and the 3-game losing streak late in this season seemed to create a greater sense of urgency in recruiting – especially through the transfer portal.
LSU has the No. 1-ranked transfer class, which combined with the No. 8 high-school class to give the Tigers’ the No. 7 overall recruiting class.
It won’t be surprising if Kelly loses another player or 2 through the portal, nor will be it surprising if welcomes 1 or more players through it.
LSU is understandably feeling good as the calendar year 2025 begins.
But as good as Kelly’s teams have been at finishing seasons, they have been just as bad in starting seasons, losing each season opener.
The challenge now is to carry the good feelings entering the 2025 calendar year into the 2025 season.
Les East is a New Orleans-based football writer who covers LSU for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @Les_East.
