"Anything less than CFP will be deemed disappointment": CFB insider sets the bar high for Garrett Nussmeier as LSU aims breakout season

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is heading into his fifth year with the Tigers. He is coming off a breakout 2024 season, accumulating 4,052 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and a 64.2% completion rate. Nussmeier is considered one of the top quarterbacks for the 2025 campaign, and a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender.

College football insider Tim Brando is a big believer of Nussmeier. He sat down with Athlon Sports’ Craig Larson Jr. for a conversation on Wednesday and shared his high praise for the quarterback.

“Garrett Nussmeier's return elevates expectations and anything less than a spot in the CFP will be deemed a disappointment,” Brando said.

Brando also mentioned LSU’s 2019-20 season when the Tigers went undefeated with Joe Burrow, that year’s Heisman winner, at the helm.

“The circumstances facing LSU's football team are similar to those they had in 2019," Brando said. "The major difference, if there is one, is their wide receiver corps.

"As great as Joe Burrow was, he had a plethora of talent and depth at the receiver position. Through the incredibly successful recruiting and portal acquisitions, it's reasonable to conclude that this team might have just that.”

Larson and Brando agreed that the season opener against Clemson will be a huge test, and winning it could set the tone for the whole season. For 2025, Aaron Anderson and Chris Hilton Jr. are expected to lead the wide receiver corps, so Nussmeier will have proven players by his side.

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Garrett Nussmeier on his decision to return to LSU

Craig Larson and Tim Brando also said they believe Garrett Nussmeier is a good enough athlete to win the Heisman Trophy in December. The quarterback has every reason to bet on himself given his production in 2024, his first full season.

With his performance last year, he could’ve entered the NFL and fulfilled his “dream,” as he put it, but chose to return to LSU. It was a decision that Nussmeier did not have a modicum of doubt about.

“(The) NFL is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid," Nussmeier said on Monday, via The Sporting News. "To even fathom of making a decision to go play in it, or come back to my dream school, it’s two dreams. So it was definitely a surreal feeling, for sure. I’m full a 100% [sure] that I made the right decision.”

Nussmeier and LSU will open their 2025 campaign on the road against Clemson on Aug. 30.