MAKING THE CASE FOR THE BIGGEST MOVE OF THE BRIAN KELLY ERA

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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

Prior to the 2025 season kicking off, even the most craven-hearted Garrett Nussmeier haters wouldn't have believed you if you told them "6 games into the season, Nussmeier wouldn't just be grossly underperforming on Heisman-level expectations, much of LSU's fanbase would actively demand his benching"......

.....most likely, nobody would believe a word...

Moreover, LSU would sit pretty with a 5-1 record at the time of this unlikely scenario....

Also in this unforeseen, crazy scenario, Nuss has only led the offense to more than 2 touchdowns in just 1 of those 6 games, he hasn't thrown for 300 yards yet, and he's turning the ball over like Rex Grossman on heavy doses of acid...with backbreaking game changing red zone interceptions becoming a macabre theme...

Many would doubt you...

Many would think that scenario sounded implausible, and yet, here we are.

LSU is 5-1, but it's been an 80/20 load managed almost completely by Blake Baker's savage defense, holding opponents to 11.8 points per game, shutting out offenses for an entire half in almost every single game, racking up interceptions, sacks, pressures, and denying points or yards at every turn....

Conversely, Nussmeier hasn't played well, in fact he's been anonymous at times, abysmal at others, attempting to gut through two, possibly three simultaneous injuries (knee, torso & now ankle) that are clearly affecting & accelerating his regression, and yet his defense continues to mask a lot of these issues when it comes to the final score, saving Joe Sloan's dysfunctional offense time after time.

I could go into every metric or statistical failing....

I could give a thorough, detailed dissection of the good plays, the bad, and the catastrophic, however, we've all seen it....we dissected all of it again and again...but now is the time for straight talk.

2025 LSU is a team led by a championship level defense....a group so full of swaggering, playmaking majesty they immediately elicit memories of the Tigers' 2011 defensive unit.....

That is the level of play we're witnessing....

....this is the defense LSU fans waited years for....and yet we're not able to enjoy their efforts fully, even when shutting down top QBs like LaNorris Sellers (holding him to 19 yards rushing, sacking him 5 times & pressuring a historic 44 times), picking off DJ Lagway on 5 separate occasions in a single game, confounding & frustrating Cade Klubnik so badly the mental fallout from their Week 1 defeat derailed Clemson's season....

Yet the effort & devotion of Blake Baker, and the sultan of savage swing's legion of doom, hasn't received the respect it deserves from their offensive counterparts.

LSU's defense trotted out on to the field for 75 plays protecting a single score lead vs South Carolina, their offense only scoring 3 points from 2 turnovers while committing 3 turnovers (2 inside the red zone) themselves.

This last week's 75 plays was just 13 shy of their snap count in their 24-19 defeat vs Ole Miss....a ridiculous 88 play devastation where Kiffin & Co wore them down rather than truly outclassing Baker's Bayou Bandits.

Their own offense, a unit as unreliable, as careless, or wasteful as Sloan & Nussmeier's group, has the ability to cause more damage than the opponent:

Just like Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr faced off against two defenses every game during the 2023 LSU campaign, the opponent's defense as well as their own (Matt House's historically awful unit), Blake Baker's renegade defense is having to pull double duty week in, week out....taking on each opponent, while managing & battling against the rising tide of their own plummeting offense:

Wasting countless opportunities to kill off games or take significant leads, failing to cash turnovers into points, incapable of controlling the tempo of a game, uninterested in working the clock or sustaining drives, while sporting a sick fetish for feeding the opponent the ball via mind-numbing turnovers, usually right after heroic back against the wall stops or turnovers created by their own defense....

If the formula over the past 6 games continues, this will inevitably lead to exhaustion for LSU's defense, further injuries, and a unit that was headed for historic heights would subsequently end the season getting out-lasted in a slow death march of 20-17, 24-10 defeats....

That can't happen....but it will unless Brian Kelly prevents it from happening....

LSU's 2025 defense is a championship unit....and Brian Kelly won't be able to hold on to Blake Baker for much longer, as well as defensive cornerstones Whit Weeks, Harold Perkins, Mansoor Delane, AJ Haulcy, Jack Pyburn etc.....this is a one shot deal with this group....

So, what I propose is very simple....to hell with politics, seniority, etc, Brian Kelly must back the identity of his defensive-first squad fully and exactly....

That means an offense more devastatingly conservative than Rush Limbaugh at Rudy Giuliani's birthday party, an offense that can compliment Kelly's superstar defensive wondercrew, cash in on the turnovers & field position scenarios they create, control the clock far more behind a steady, run-heavy attack, score more than 2 touchdowns each game, and take care of the football....no more Favre-like tosses into triple coverage, no more wondering if your quarterback's next hobble will be his last....

Michael Van Buren might not be able to lead Joe Sloan's offense to the ultimate grandeur some expected before the season; the former Mississippi State signal caller might not be capable of the throws, moxy or leadership of Garrett Nussmeier, however, at this point, Brian Kelly needs to find out if Van Buren can run the offense better than his 5th year senior.

LSU can't afford to waste another championship-level unit because of the other side of the ball's unceasing, repeated failures....

Taking 1st team snaps during last week's practices, it is clear Van Buren doesn't throw the football with the same NFL polish and panache of Nussmeier......and, perhaps MVB is prone to mistakes as well (he threw 7 interceptions as a freshman at Mississippi State)....

Regardless of those limitations, his play extension potential make him a proper fit within Joe Sloan's RPO offense while also adding an extra dimension to LSU's running game....elements the Tigers don't currently possess.

Van Buren isn't Michael Vick, but both moves could mask the offensive line's deficiencies & help generate rushing yards, while constantly giving defenses more to consider against a quarterback who can use their legs.

Maybe a move at quarterback would work, maybe it wouldn't....but we've seen what lies ahead on this current path....isn't it worth taking the other for a spin, even for an experimental detour?

I'm not calling for the permanent benching of Nussmeier, that's up to Brian Kelly to decide; but I do think Brian Kelly owes it to his program, specifically this otherworldly defense, to try and find something that works offensively, which in this case absolutely means a quarterback change.

Is it time for Kelly to make the biggest move of his LSU tenure?

Kelly let the reverse situation play out during a 3 loss disappointment campaign in 2023, wasting a Heisman QB, a Biletnikoff / program record-shattering receiving duo, and a statistically outrageous offense....mostly due to the fear of shaking up his defense mid-season with a much-needed coaching change.

Once again 2 years later, Coach Kelly faces the same dilemma in reverse, this time regarding his starting quarterback, all clashing ahead of a trip to Nashville for a Theo Vonn-infused showdown vs Vanderbilt, before brimstone battles against top 5 teams A&M and Alabama beckon on the horizon.

The only question left to ask....what is Brian Kelly willing to do to win a championship?

By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

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