The LSU vs USC game on Sunday was highly entertaining and produced a reassuring performance from the two starting quarterbacks.
Firstly, this was a great showcase against the constant transferring around of quarterbacks. Both players looked so comfortable within their respective schemes. There has to be a concern that QB’s are going to chase money and glory, rather than development as time moves on. Garrett Nussmeier and Miller Moss made as strong a case as possible for staying put and developing.
Secondly, it also a reminder that players can emerge. There was so much hype for Conner Weigman at Texas A&M, watching him crash and burn and look undraftable against Notre Dame was disappointing. Here, these two made an early case for being on NFL radars.
Let’s start with Nussmeier.
I thought this was a terrific performance albeit in a losing effort. He appeared comfortable throwing from the pocket, his feet were well and set and his throwing base enabled him to deliver passes with accuracy. His arm strength is certainly good enough and on the rare occasions that he had to move around, he did an excellent job re-setting his feet, turning his body to the intended target and delivering on the money.
Despite playing behind a line with two highly rated offensive tackles, he did have to operate from an imperfect pocket at times and he did very well dealing with pressure. He can flick the ball out of his hand to generate velocity easily. His throwing motion is naturally sound and clean.
Nussmeier isn’t a ‘wow’ athlete but he did show off natural talent as a passer. He doesn’t force the ball when he uncorks downfield or when he has to throw with extra effort.
I did think he was too quick to check down at times, missing deeper field targets and not allowing plays to develop. He was a little too eager to get the ball out and there were some missed opportunities. I think he left some third down conversions on the field as a consequence — although the offensive scheme felt restrictive and conservative. There were too many one-read third down situations meaning the defense only had to cover the primary target to get a stop. I don’t think LSU were aggressive enough on the night and I think their creativity on third-down was too limited.
Nussmeier looked very comfortable throwing on the move when he bootlegged out of the pocket. His first score was a nicely placed high throw giving his receiver a chance to go up and make a play. He showed he can throw off-balance and still generate power.
I thought he was technically very sound, in complete control within his system which he clearly understood, he didn’t look flustered in a close high-pressure game and he has enough of a physical skill-set to have a shot at the NFL.
I’m not sure what his ceiling is in terms of the NFL draft and I’d like to see LSU push the ball downfield more. However, I liked him a lot more than I expected to and it was very easy to imagine him in the NFL based on this performance. His draft stock will be determined by his physical ceiling and performances over the coming weeks but there are definitely things to like. The NFL is increasingly predicated on creativity and physical quality but you still need to throw with timing and structure in key situations. There’s reason to believe Nussmeier can do this based on the small sample size here.
He finished the game 29/38 passing for 304 yards, two touchdowns and a late desperation pick with seconds remaining.
Miller Moss shared a lot of the positive traits we saw with Nussmeier. He isn’t the same size and I’d be interested to get a proper measurement given he had quite a few batted balls at the LOS. He’s only listed at 6-1 and 205lbs. However — he looked at home in Lincoln Riley’s system. His rhythm and timing was excellent and he had a great grasp of his role within the scheme.
Moss’ placement and accuracy on short/medium range throws was very good and he showed he can attack the middle of the field and throw down the seam into traffic with accuracy.
This is a NFL pass in terms of timing, anticipating, accuracy and velocity. It’s hard to see in the screenshot but it’s also a layered pass thrown between two defensive backs:
Why was this my favourite throw of the game? Look at the left tackle who has been driven back into the quarterback. Regardless, Moss isn’t impacted by this. He doesn’t move off the spot or overreact. When he delivers this pass, he can’t see the intended target. He trusts the play because he understands the route and the scheme. Thus, he throws to an area and leads the receiver. When the receiver catches this pass, he is almost perfectly placed between two defenders. This was a big-time completion for a significant gain, thrown down the middle of the field with pressure to Moss’ blind-side. This is NFL stuff even if at the next level there won’t be quite as much space over the middle and the window will be tighter.
He also showed poise to convert key third down plays (eg — 11:14 left in the third quarter). These are the throws that some teams focus on the most. One evaluator once told me he watched every third down throw a quarterback makes and that’s how he judges his ability. Moss played well in that regard vs LSU.
He threw a 40-yard pass to the left sideline with ease that looked the part — showing ideal loft and placement with 6:50 left in the first half. He would’ve had two scores but for a bobbled catch in the red zone on a third and goal with 4:25 left in the second quarter. The receiver really should’ve controlled the ball.
Moss’ only touchdown was a beauty — a perfect throw exploiting a 1v1 matchup to the right corner of the pylon, thrown from the 35-yard-line. It was a wonderfully placed downfield shot after being given a free play for an offside flag. He followed it up with a drive to win the game with some big time throws — including his final pass which was exceptional and clutch to the left sideline, drawing a bonus targeting flag to set up USC for the go-ahead winning score in the red zone.
He did move around in the pocket a bit too much unnecessarily at times encouraging pressure — but not to the extent Cam Ward does. Moss is athletic enough to scramble and extend plays but he’s not a dynamic run threat based on this game. Sometimes he runs into trouble as mentioned. I think his fade throws could use some work too — they need to be thrown higher.
Lincoln Riley has clearly heard the noise from last year. This was a vastly improved defensive performance from USC and his offense was rolling again. Can this continue? Riley has been a QB whisperer in the past even if his work with Caleb Williams felt below par given the talent of the two individuals.
Moss finished 27/36 passing for 378 yards with one touchdown and no turnovers. I’m very intrigued to see more.
Overall a great game with two eye-catching quarterbacks. This is the kind of game you love to see when you write thousands of words about the draft. Nussmeier and Moss are on the radar now.
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