LSU football coach Brian Kelly was asked a singular question about quarterback Garrett Nussmeier in his weekly news conference Monday afternoon. It was centered on Nussmeier\u2019s visible frustration after his team\u2019s second Southeastern Conference loss this season. Kelly cut the probe off early to express the shared sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not happy,\u201d Kelly said of his team\u2019s continued struggles. \u201cI think he\u2019s part of that entire group. He\u2019s not happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
How about his counterpart that the Tigers will play Saturday night?<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcel Reed,\u201d Kelly said earlier in that same media availability, \u201cis doing an incredible job at the quarterback position.\u201d<\/p>\n
The books support both of Kelly\u2019s points. Reed, Texas A&M\u2019s standout sophomore quarterback, has effectively swapped places with Nussmeier in the race for college football\u2019s most prestigious award.<\/p>\n
Reed had the 17th-best odds of any quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy in the preseason and, with his Aggies undefeated and ranked third in the AP Top 25 poll, now has the fifth-best overall odds. Nussmeier, whose Tigers are on the brink of legitimate College Football Playoff contention, started with the third-best odds and has slunk to 24th.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s game between the Aggies (7-0, 4-0 SEC) and the Tigers (5-2, 2-2) at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. might help secure one team\u2019s entrance into college football\u2019s postseason bracket and secure the other\u2019s prohibition. It\u2019s also reflective of a college football season that\u2019s been characterized by quarterback turmoil and the coaches who have been tasked to navigate it.<\/p>\n
The three preseason Heisman Trophy favorites \u2014 Texas\u2019 Arch Manning, Clemson\u2019s Cade Klubnik and Nussmeier \u2014 have each tumbled out from favor in the eyes of oddsmakers. Nussmeier, at plus-15,000, has the best odds of the three and is the 22nd-ranked quarterback. Manning, at plus-25,000, is the 28th-ranked quarterback. Klubnik isn\u2019t listed at either FanDuel Sportsbook or DraftKings.<\/p>\n
Those ranked above them include SMU\u2019s Kevin Jennings (a three-star recruit with zero power conference scholarship offers in high school), Ole Miss\u2019 Trinidad Chambliss (who played for Division II Ferris State last year) and Oklahoma\u2019s John Mateer (a Little Elm alum who parlayed his lone FBS scholarship offer into a gig at Oklahoma).<\/p>\n
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has been required, on a near weekly basis, to defend his prized five-star quarterback, the criticism for his team\u2019s offensive struggles and to criticize \u201cs— getting talked about our team\u201d in his postgame availabilities. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney only made it through one game this season before he acknowledged that if Klubnik \u201cain\u2019t a dude, we ain\u2019t winning.\u201d Kelly had to reiterate his strong relationship with Nussmeier after an on-field outburst was caught on camera and, on Monday, conveyed his quarterback\u2019s passion when he was seen in tears after Saturday\u2019s loss vs. Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n
Elko\u2019s only gripe these days is with those who question his loyalty to the College Station program. He joked Monday that he\u2019s \u201crunning out of ways\u201d to evaluate Reed\u2019s growth as the Nashville native has now totaled 1,770 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in his first full season as a starter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think now what you see is a kid so much more confident,\u201d Elko said Monday in his weekly news conference. \u201cSo much more comfortable, still the same athlete, still capable of making plays with his feet, but also now able to sit in a pocket and deliver the football at a much, much higher level.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s lifted the Aggies to a higher level in the process.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no requirement for defense there.<\/p>\n
Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.<\/p>\n
The college football season has been marked by quarterback turmoil, with many preseason favorites struggling and new stars emerging. The upcoming game between the Aggies and the Tigers will be a crucial test for both teams and their quarterbacks. As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see how the quarterbacks and their coaches navigate the challenges and pressures of the game.<\/p>\n
A: The current favorites to win the Heisman Trophy include Marcel Reed, who has the fifth-best overall odds, and other quarterbacks who have risen to prominence during the season.<\/p>\n
A: Nussmeier has struggled this season, with his team suffering two Southeastern Conference losses. He has fallen from third to 24th in the Heisman Trophy odds.<\/p>\n
A: The game is crucial for both teams, as it may secure one team\u2019s entrance into the College Football Playoff and eliminate the other. It will also be a test of the quarterbacks and their coaches, who have faced challenges and pressures throughout the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
College Football Season Marked by Quarterback Turmoil LSU football coach Brian Kelly was asked a singular question about quarterback Garrett Nussmeier in his weekly news conference Monday afternoon. It was centered on Nussmeier\u2019s visible frustration after his team\u2019s second Southeastern Conference loss this season. Kelly cut the probe off early to express the shared sentiment. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":15627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/7PCWYZRVHBFWPPAPWDR4L3UQF4.jpg?auth=7083366bc54cbf7338f845842ed3f89bf5186f06a37b47e2aec25aa5ff5d8c35&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&focal=452,78","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15628,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15625\/revisions\/15628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}