LSU finds itself in a tricky spot to evaluate as we’re now on game week for the 2024 season-opener against USC in Las Vegas.
On one hand, the Tigers lost a ton of production from a solid but flawed team, and they weren’t nearly as aggressive in the transfer portal as they’ve been the previous two offseasons. On the other hand, they are optimistic about the changes, both in terms of staff and personnel, and hope to compete for a spot in the expanded playoff.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly broke all 134 FBS teams into tiers, and LSU fell into the third tier, dubbed “Who needs a quarterback anyway?” The Tigers were joined by four other teams with new and (somewhat) unproven starting quarterbacks.
Jayden Daniels was an unstoppable deep-ball producer last season (except when he played Florida State’s defense, which the committee casually forgot about by year’s end). Garrett Nussmeier shouldn’t be expected to approach Daniels’ numbers, but his career stat line over three seasons — 219 passes, 58.9% completions, 11 TDs and 7 interceptions — won’t be sufficient for a Bayou Bengals team with playoff hopes either.
Nussmeier has shown positive flashes, and he looked strong in his lone career start as he threw for nearly 400 yards and three touchdowns with just one interception in a bowl win over Wisconsin.
A lot of the Tigers’ hopes will depend on whether Nussmeier can keep the offense as productive as it was with Daniels, but if he can, this team could reach the CFP for the first time under [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag].
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