Jordan Rodgers names the best quarterback in college football

LSU takes on Florida at 7:30 PM EST on Sept. 13 and Rodgers believes this could be the start of something special for Nussmeier.

"You know what I love about rivalries? There's always a superstar waiting to breakout... These are the games. The rivalry games — where stars are stars. They start their Heisman campaigns and they break out and I think that's what's going to happen."

In his first season as LSU’s starter, Nussmeier threw for 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, the No. 2 single-season yardage total in program history and top-10 all time in the SEC. He started all 13 games of a 9–4 campaign and capped it with the Texas Bowl. In the bowl game he had 304 yards and three touchdowns in a 44–31 win over Baylor.

In the previous January, he got his first start in a 35–31 comeback win over Wisconsin in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl. In that game he threw for 395 yards and three scores. That finish, followed by a 4,000-yard debut season, explains why so many came into 2025 expecting a leap.

Nussmeier opened the season on multiple watch lists including the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award and Manning Award. He also landed in the O’Brien’s “Great 8” for Week 1. SEC coaches named him First-Team All-SEC in their preseason selections and he's been a name attached to the Heisman race.

Nussmeier opened this season by going 28-of-38 for 232 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT in a 17–10 win at No. 4 Clemson. He was named Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and SEC Offensive Player of the Week for the performance. He followed with 237 yards and a touchdown in a 23–7 win over Louisiana Tech. LSU's offense didn't really have it going in that game either but the defense was able to step up and hold LA Tech to only 154 total yards.

If the interceptions that marred 2024 (SEC-high 12) stay in check, and the Nussmeier breaks out further, Rodgers might just be onto something.