LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has led the Tigers to a flawless 3-0 start to the 2025 college football season. After getting a lot of preseason Heisman Trophy hype, Nussmeier has struggled to assert his dominance on the Tigers' offense despite the three wins by coach Brian Kelly's team. During his weekly news conference, Kelly revealed that Nussmeier has been playing with a torso injury sustained during preseason, but that he would still play against FCS team, the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in Week 4 action. Before the game, Nussmeier's fiancée, Ella Springfield, posted a snippet on her Instagram stories of her all-white, No. 18-branded outfit for the LSU game. She captioned the picture:"Welcome to Death Valley."Springfield's IG storiesGarrett Nussmeier and Ella Springfield met while they were in high school and they started dating when they both joined LSU in 2022. Ella graduated from the institution with a degree in business last year and has continued to attend the talented quarterback's games. On July 20, Nussmeier proposed to Springfield in Oklahoma and the couple both shared snippets of the romantic event on Instagram. Brian Kelly defends Garrett Nussmeier's slow startGarrett Nussmeier has been key to the LSU Tigers being ranked No. 3 in the AP Top-25 Poll although his numbers have suffered this season. Offensively, the quarterback has gone 69-of-106 for 689 yards, resulting in three touchdowns and two interceptions. LSU failed on 10 of 14 third downs against beleaguered coach Billy Napier's Florida Gators in Week 3 and only managed to win 23-7 against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs despite being four-touchdown favorites for the game. During his weekly news conference before the Tigers' clash against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, coach Brian Kelly revealed that the quarterback threw too much in preseason training, which led to a tightness in his torso and the slump in his form this season. "He's been slowed a little bit with a torso injury," Kelly said. "He's fighting through it and he's getting better. He's not going to be able to really shut it down until we get to the (off) week. I think he's on the other side of that. but we had to be really careful with him the first few weeks."It's an upper-body injury, and you want to be careful with how many reps he's getting throwing the football. He's overcoming that, but we kept cut him down substantially."Before Garrett Nussmeier can get a rest during LSU's bye week, the Tigers will have to face the No. 13-ranked Ole Miss Rebels in a blockbuster SEC matchup that could change either side's season.