LSU vs SOUTH CAROLINA 2025 PREVIEW

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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

For the second consecutive season, Brian Kelly's #11 ranked LSU Tigers (4-1) face Shane Beamer's South Carolina (3-2) Gamecocks, rematching their 36-33 battle from last fall's Week 3 blood festival.....only this time inside Tiger Stadium.

Stopping Heisman "candidate" QB LaNorris Sellers' explosive dual threat capabilities will be a major talking point for Blake Baker's defensive unit, yet the main Week 6 story for the Tigers revolves around the health & rate of healing for quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, now poised to play after a lengthy period of uncertainty & intrigue concerning his health / status as the Tigers' starter.

At least for this game, it appears Nussmeier's dual injuries won't prevent him from starting for the 20th straight time at LSU, all as serious questions are being asked regarding the Tigers' early offensive failings.

Up against one of the best fronts in the SEC (29 TFLs, 14 sacks), led by South Carolina's sure-fire 1st rounder Dylan Stewart (7 TFLs, 3.5 Sacks), alongside top flight SEC stronghold players like Monkell Goodwine, Bryan Thomas Jr, Nick Barrett, and Gabriel Brandlow-Dindy, LSU's Joe Sloan offense must figure something out fast, not only facing a mandate to beat South Carolina, but to live to play another down with their injured, beleaguered quarterback.

Nothing much, outside of LSU's 4-0 start, has gone senior Garrett Nussmeier's way so far in 2025...a check list of ordeals that began with him picking up a pair of Fall Camp injuries in two significant areas of the footballing body (abdominal area & knee) & continues in his sudden stunningly low production as a starter......but where will it end???

As Kelly is steadfast in his belief of Garrett Nussmeier, many sections of the fanbase clamor for the potential play-extending savvy of backup QB Michael Van Buren (11 TDs, 7 INTs, 5 rushing scores as a freshman at Mississippi State).

Coach Kelly also revealed Van Buren received most of the first team snaps during the bye week, but after analyzing all of what Kelly has said about his quarterbacks, it appears only another serious injury or other calamity would keep Nuss from starting vs South Carolina.

However, due to these circumstances, against such a dangerous front....could we witness Brian Kelly & offensive coordinator Joe Sloan utilizing both quarterbacks???

Facing Stewart and Co up front with an offensive line that's not only become unreliable, they're also injured, and damningly, they've been soft, fronting an immobilized, banged up quarterback without a sustained running game to hang his hat on......the "same old same old" routine would be recipe for disaster.

It all starts and ends with Brad Davis' under-fire offensive line. Potentially starting freshman Carius Curne at right tackle once again, or swapping guards for fresh aggression, Davis and running game coordinator Alex Atkins must find a formula to run the football & protect their still ailing quarterback....who's already taken 7 sacks over 5 weeks.

Last year, LSU's O-line of Campbell, Dellinger, Chester, Frazier and Jones were breached for 17 QB pressures, however, they only allowed a single sack and 4 QB hits despite the high volume of backfield penetration.

Although that was at a time when Nussmeier's mobility wasn't hampered by a worsening knee injury....and his passing wasn't limited or even completely faded away due to an aggravated abdominal injury.....

Now, facing this venomous front with the same hampered Nuss that played against Ole Miss is asking for two very bad things to happen:

1. Another (possibly season-threatening) injury to Garrett Nussmeier.

2. A second loss for LSU ahead of games against Vanderbilt, A&M, Alabama, and Oklahoma still on the schedule.

That said, it is empirically important for LSU to run the football, stay committed to the ground game, and generate some kind of spark. Feeding and sticking with returning RB Caden Durham and versatile WR Zaivion Thomas will reap the most rewards against this "soft center" defense (that currently allows 143 rushing yards per game).

Yet, the numbers tell me this will be another offensive bloodbath...perhaps by both squads:

South Carolina have scored 38 points at the most this season, 35 in another contest, 7 in their blowout loss vs Vandy, 20 during a 9 point defeat vs Mizzou, and 24 to open the season over Virginia Tech.....simultaneously, they haven't allowed more than 31 points to any opponent this year....point being: we could be looking at yet another grinding, tooth-removing, anxiety-riddled low scoring defensive slugfest....

As for Blake Baker's defense, returning to the field on the heels of their first time allowing any team more than 10 points over their first 5 games, finally bending after 3 strong, exhausting quarters @ Ole Miss and giving up just 24. In that loss, the Rebels became the first opponent to sustain a running game (the first to clock over 100 on the ground vs LSU) & hit numerous explosive plays on Baker's Bayou Bandits....

it will be interesting to see how this incredible group rebound....knowing they may have to hold the rope for 4 very long quarters each and every week (due to the Tigers' own lack of offensive consistency or control).

Also, how Blake Baker will go about trying to stop LaNorris Sellers remains another piece of sizzling intrigue, considering only Bradyn Swinson & an injury were all that stopped Sellers last year vs LSU, exiting hurt after 1 mostly unstoppable half (recording 88 rushing yards on 10 carries for 2 rushing scores and finishing 9/16 for 113 passing yards, stats that are scarred by a crucial red zone interception & a fumble).

Last season, Baker used creative safety blitzes to mix it up, and one of those plays, a strip sack by former safety Sage Ryan & Harold Perkins (both blitzing simultaneously), became the play that initially hurt Sellers....before Swinson's 2nd sack of the half ended Sellers' game prematurely.

Last year's plan worked out....sort of...

LSU allowed Sellers far too much backfield & pocket space from a defensive line pressure perspective (playing first time freshmen and outmatched transfers at defensive tackle), did not possess safeties who could make open field tackles or even slow down a player like LaNorris Sellers, and frankly, despite the random playmaking (a few sacks, a fumble & a red zone interception by Sellers), LSU stared down an early, quickfire 17-0 lead, and consistently couldn't handle Sellers.

Maybe because of Sellers' turnovers, LSU win that 2024 matchup anyway, but the Tigers actually got lucky with his injury.

This time around, we need to see more involvement from Harold Perkins & Whit Weeks (just 4 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery between the pair).

Despite LSU's defensive might over 5 games thus far, we are yet to really see Whit Weeks or Harold Perkins pop since the Week 1 win over Clemson.....and now is the time for both to take over a game together once again.

Both Perkins & Weeks are the exact defensive weapons, alongside safeties AJ Haulcy and Tamarcus Cooley, who can stop, stuff or even simply contain Sellers and the run-pass option game....carving up entire acres of grass in their hot-blooded, Reagan-era pursuit of ball carriers & quarterbacks.

At the same time, South Carolina also have their own offensive struggles ahead of Saturday:

Even with Sellers' 98 yards, the highest single total rusher for South Carolina is Rahsul Faison's 163 yards, while LSU surprisingly out-rush South Carolina as a team, 523-499; Plus, the Gamecocks are having trouble throwing the ball as well, with just 4 receiving touchdowns caught by their entire offense, WR Vandrevius Jacobs leading the way just over 300 yards & 2 TDs, as Sellers completed just 58 passes over his first 5 games (almost exactly half as many as Nussmeier's 115).

Much like LSU's offense, if you take away anything on the ground, errors will start to creep in via nonstop passing plays.....a formula for both defenses going into the game.

From 10,000 feet above, Saturday night's Baton Rouge showdown between the Beamer Cocks and LSU should be a close contest full of canceling each other out:

Each squad is facing a must win game...

Both highly regarded quarterbacks aren't playing at their best....and their corresponding supporting cast has let them down...

Both offenses struggle to run the ball...

Both defenses possess the athleticism, speed, smarts, and aggression to make Saturday a long night for either offense...

South Carolina have shown more playmaking ability on special teams, not only blocking an early LSU punt that led directly to a touchdown last fall, they feature the SEC's premiere return man, Vicari Swain (a superfreak with 206 punt return yards & 3 punts returned for touchdowns already in 2025)....

Could special teams prove to be the difference in such a close, brutal battle, as it ended last year with a missed South Carolina field goal as time expired???

I think so.....

Helping out an offense that need every yard they can get, it's time LSU unleash their own cavalcade of return options, Zaivion Thomas, Barion Brown, Harlem Berry, or the record-setting freshman track star Jelani Watkins, and for Special Teams Coordinator Aman Anand to deliver his best coaching display as a Tiger assistant thus far.

CONCLUSION

LSU fans won't want to hear this, but regardless of whether Sloan and Kelly start Nussmeier or Van Buren, I have a feeling the Tigers will experience another frustrating offensive outing.....

Still, I would love to see both QBs utilized, enhanced creativity & risk regarding playcalling, our offense developing some kind of running game, and for Joe Sloan to finally unleash our speedy receivers with routine passing over the middle, attacking the weakest areas of the South Carolina defense: their linebackers & secondary.

As for Blake Baker's Bayou Bandits, stay healthy, keep laser sharp focus on your gaps, we need a defensive front ready to make plays, and I want to see Baker reach deep into his defensive depth in order for our squad to remain fresh for 60+ minutes.

LSUODYSSEY WILL BE A GUEST ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S (10/8) EPISODE OF "THE GEAUX TEAM PODCAST", OUR 2ND APPEARANCE ON THE SHOW (CHECK OUT THE FIRST HERE) AND WILL CONTINUE TO PREVIEW THIS GAME....LEADING UP TO FRIDAY'S PREDICTION SHOW SPECIAL.

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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

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