BATON ROUGE ― With LSU football 's appearance at SEC Media Days in the rearview mirror, attention of the team and fans alike turns to the 2025 season.
The Tigers will travel to take on Clemson inside Memorial Stadium to open the season Aug. 30 in primetime on national television (6:30 p.m. CT, ABC). The matchup is one of the top games of opening day, as it is expected to be a top-10 showdown out the gates.
But before Brian Kelly and LSU , coming off an 9-4 season with a win over Baylor in the Texas Bowl, play any games, it'll officially start its preparation for Clemson and the season with preseason practices at the beginning of August.
HOW LSU FOOTBALL IS TRYING TO BUCK TREND OF LOSING SEASON OPENERS
In The Daily Advertiser's first position preview for the 2025 season, here's a look at LSU's quarterback room and what fans should watch out for during fall camp and into the season.
Senior signal caller Garrett Nussmeier has said it himself this offseason.
LSU's quarterback had a great first year as the full-time starter last season, throwing for more than 4,000 yards with 29 touchdowns while leading the team to nine wins. But there were also 12 interceptions and plenty of other decisions he would like to take back.
"Having last year to be able to go back on now and watch, study, this entire offseason has been about that for me," Nussmeier said at SEC Media Days earlier this week. "Just watching all part of the game, seeing the areas where I need to be critical on myself on and improve at, whether it's taking care of the football or using my legs more in situations that I need to."
It's those two aspects of his game ― turnovers and knowing when to tuck and run ― that if there is growth, could be the difference between the Tigers finished where they did last season and making the 12-team College Football Playoff in 2025.
Nussmeier has the receiving corps, which is deeper than what he had last year. But with a younger offensive line, time in the pocket will likely be limited against certain teams. Recognizing it's time to run could pay off for him and LSU.
Mississippi State transfer Michael Van Buren Jr. appears to be the No. 2 in the room. He started the last eight games for the Bulldogs in 2024 as a freshman, finishing with 1,886 yards, 11 touchdown and seven interceptions.
While Van Buren is the expected primary backup, sophomore Ju'Juan Johnson will likely see some playing time this season, especially when the offense gets inside the 10-yard line. Johnson is the most athletic player in the room and his speed, power and throwing ability could provide LSU an edge in an area where it lacked some creativity, efficiency and effectiveness last season.
Freshmen Colin Hurley and Emile Picarella III round out the position group.
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: Can Garrett Nussmeier lead LSU football to College Football Playoff?
