Film Review: UCLA

The Nuss Bus is back on the road

I will write about the defense at some point. I don’t have All-22 for every game of the D like I do for the offense and I’m waiting for it to *actually* cost them a game, but I see it, don’t worry. There’s also not much to say about it besides the fact that they lack playable talent at multiple spots.

The more interesting story of the young season to this point has been the side of the ball that will be tasked with perfection if LSU is to avoid bottoming out this year. The offense has been productive but disjointed, even against opponents like Nicholls. In spite of the likelihood that UCLA is the worst team on the schedule for the rest of the year (including South Alabama), their struggles against Nicholls make it possible to still see growth. The offense had its best week of the year, led by the QB who carries the entire season on his shoulders. With a defense that is marginally improved but still catastrophic and a supporting cast considerably inferior to what Jayden Daniels had, LSU will need Garrett Nussmeier to strap on his cape if it is going to even approach 10 wins.

Nussmeier’s process looked much quicker and more composed like it did in last year’s bowl game, hopefully indicating that things are slowing down enough for him to do the pro-level things they need him to do in the pocket. Once he sees the WLB open to relate to the bender by number 3 to the strength, he dumps the ball to the RB in the area he vacates with proper timing. You can see the difference in his feet from the previous weeks with more order and timing.

In addition to just getting through baseline reads, we started to see Nussmeier add a bit more detail to his decision-making. When you’re struggling to make reads on time it takes everything you have to decide what is and isn’t open and come off things on time, but when you’re seeing things quickly you have a bit more time to think a bit more. Here he holds onto his first read (bottom) a bit long to decide if he wants to take that hole between the cloud Corner and the S, but decides against it. To catch-up with the timing of the other routes, he has less time to decide if he wants the second option and has to come off that quicker, but he’s able to do it and hit number 3 in time with the break of the route. Most quarterbacks just go 1 to 2 to 3 without much other thought but this is a higher-level of vision.

With just one 2nd level defender in the middle, Nussmeier knows that he will have this backside dig if the Mike pressures. Even though guys drop out, he knows they can’t get nearly enough depth to squeeze this. He picks it up quickly and gets the ball out with no fat in his footwork.

It wasn’t just post-snap reaction that improved. Pass-protection, which had been a big issue for LSU assignment-wise through the first few weeks, was much cleaner without taking it off the QB’s plate. Here they’re in a standard protection, but with UCLA in a “load” front with 3 DL threats/the MIKE to one side and no DL over the backside guard, LSU “borrows” the backside guard to account for the MIKE and any possible loopers. Nussmeier sees man coverage and picks his matchup, making a good throw to the back-shoulder that is batted away by a great play and possibly could have still been caught.

As always, the high-end playmaking still showed up, including a touchdown to a blanketed Kyle Parker that might be the best throw, across the country, of this young season.

LSU’s gameplan for attacking UCLA combined all of these skills. With safeties that played with a lot of depth, LSU attacked the seams underneath them. Working the seams is hard-mode for a QB because it stresses everything. You have to work the middle, which is where a lot of moving bodies and unclear pictures pose challenges in processing, and do it quickly because of how rapidly windows close. You can’t have extra hitches in your feet and you can’t take extra time to process. As a thrower, you have to layer the ball into a window that is closed from underneath and behind, and you have to be accurate/aware enough to adapt your placement to keep it away from defenders.

The second clip is a good example of this, as Nussmeier leaves it low and underneath to shield the ball from the Safety over top. You also need to put enough heat on the ball to fit it in. Nussmeier easily could have had 500+ yards on Saturday, with poor routes, drops, and tackles that should have been broken wiping out a ton of production. If Nussmeier can keep growing and become the NFL QB he is capable of being, he gives LSU a fighting chance to overcome its defense every week.