Garrett Nussmeier identifies what he learned most from backing up Jayden Daniels
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Garrett Nussmeier showed immediately what he could do when Jayden Daniels handed the LSU quarterback job off to him.
Daniels had just captured the Heisman Trophy a few weeks earlier in December 2023. When he decided to sit out the ReliaQuest Bowl against Wisconsin to prepare for the NFL Draft, the baton was passed. Nussmeier took that baton and ran with it on New Year’s Day 2024, going 31-of-45 passing for 395 yards and 3 touchdown passes.
The last of those TD passes was the winning toss, with 3:08 left in the game, and it lifted LSU to a thrilling 35-31 victory. Nussmeier earned MVP honors in the bowl for his dazzling debut and suddenly LSU fans weren’t so worried as the great Daniels handed off the position to Nussmeier.
Nussmeier dazzled during his first full season as the starter in 2024, too, throwing for a whopping 4,052 yards with 29 touchdown passes. There were also 12 interceptions to go with those other gaudy numbers, so all wasn’t perfect last fall, but the Lake Charles, La., native waited a long time to take over the LSU offense after joining the program in 2021 and he had finally arrived.
Now, Nussmeier wants to take another step as a senior in 2025, and he’s expecting big things from himself. Yes, he had to wait a long time to seize the starting job, but it was well worth the wait, playing and learning behind Daniels. Nussmeier discussed what he learned from the dynamic Daniels during a recent interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith and Ryan McGee.
“Obviously, it was kind of difficult for me. Jayden’s an unbelievable talent, but we’re so different,” said Nussmeier, who knew he simply couldn’t make the kind of athletic plays that Daniels did. “Kind of what I learned was watching him on a day-to-day basis, how he interacts in the building, what his process was, taking notes in the things that he did to prepare.”
Here is the clip of Nussmeier talking about Daniels:
This fall, Nussmeier will try to reach the lofty level that Daniels did and, just maybe, he’ll be holding that same Heisman in December that Daniels captured 2 years ago.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
