Booger McFarland names the best quarterback in college football

For Booger McFarland, one QB from Week 1 stood atop the mountain of college football. Not shockingly for the former LSU Tiger, he went with his alma mater's passer, Garrett Nussmeier as the top passer in college. McFarland explained his rationale for the pick on Barstool's Pardon My Take podcast.

I think we've got the best quarterback in the country, Garrett Nussmeier. He's a great young man, he's a great individual. He's the son of a coach-- Doug Nussmeier, who I think is the Saints' OC or quarterback coach, that's his Dad. He's been around the game for a long time. Big win for the Tigers. Booger McFarland

Nuss's big day

Nussmeier did shine through the muck of a defensive struggle in Week 1 for the Tigers at Clemson. He completed 28 for 38 pass attempts for 232 yards and a touchdown. Nussmeier's steady leadership helped LSU hold the football for over 37 minutes of the game and outgain Clemson by nearly a hundred yards, 354-261.

This performance was particularly significant for Nussmeier, because the wrap on him was that he struggled in big games. Last year, he completed just 43% of his passes and threw two picks in a narrow win over Ole Miss, then threw two more picks in a loss to Alabama, and picked up just 5.5 yards per pass attempt in a loss to Florida. Still, in the big picture, Nussmeier was the only 4,000 yard passer in FBS football to return to college for 2025.

His steady Week 1 work makes LSU a potential CFP pick and Nussmeier's own Heisman credentials certainly weren't hurt by an impressive game

Doug Nussmeier

As McFarland noted, Nussmeier's father, Doug, is a coach. Doug Nussmeier is the offense coordinator for the New Orleans Saints. He previously was an offensive coordinator at several college programs: Fresno State (2008), Washington (2009-2011), Alabama (2012-2013), Michigan (2014), and Florida (2015-2017).

Nussmeier moved to the NFL after his time with the Gators. He was the QB coach for the Dallas Cowboys after first serving as the team's tight ends coach. He later was QB coach for the Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Nussmeier was a quarterback himself at the University of Idaho. A fourth-round pick of the Saints, he started two NFL games and passed for 455 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions in 82 NFL pass attempts.