Michael Van Buren’s time with LSU has seemingly come to an end as the sophomore quarterback has announced he intends to put his name into the transfer portal.
Van Buren’s career began at Mississippi State and he was thrust into action after original starting quarterback Blake Shapen was lost for the season. Van Buren ended up starting eight games for Mississippi State that season and entered the portal at season’s end.
Van Buren found his way to LSU at the end of 2024 and the thought was he would come
to Baton Rouge, back up Garrett Nussmeier and compete with Colin Hurley for the starting job in 2026. That of course did not happen. Van Buren replaced Nussmeier in the second half of LSU’s 20-9 loss to Alabama and ended up starting the rest of the season. In seven games played and four starts, Van Buren completed 62 percent of his passes for just a tick over a thousand yards (1,010 to be exact) and threw eight touchdowns against just two interceptions. He got to show off his mobility a bit too, rushing for 129 yards. I can’t find sack-adjusted yardage so that 129 number isn’t quite accurate.
LSU now has zero quarterbacks on the roster. Nussmeier is out of eligibility, and both Van Buren and Hurley have entered the portal. I suppose one of those two could take their name out of the portal and return, but at the time of this writing LSU does not have a single scholarship quarterback with the program.
The Tigers are reportedly set to host Cincinnati transfer Brendan Sorsby soon and they have also been linked to Elon quarterback Landen Clark, who is visiting on Friday. Still, even if they land Sorsby and Clark the Tigers will still need to find another quarterback on top of that.
But that’s why LSU’s paying the self-proclaimed Portal King $91 million dollars. Time to earn that first paycheck.
