LSU is one of the big stories in the college football world coming off it’s impressive season-opening 17-10 win over #4 Clemson, and as such the individual accolades are rolling out.
On Monday, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and center Braelin Moore were recognized by the SEC as the league’s offensive player and offensive linemen of the week. Technically, Nuss will share the honor as the co-player of the week with Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold.
Nussmeier may not have put up Joe Burrow versus Oklahoma
type of numbers, but he was in complete control in Saturday’s win going 28-38 for 230 yards and threw a touchdown to Trey’Dez Green. Nuss is now the betting favorite for this year’s Heisman trophy if you’re into that type of stuff. He’s currently listed at +800 on our sister site DraftKings.
Moore, on the other hand, helped lead the way for the new-look LSU offensive line. Going up against one of the better defensive fronts in the country, LSU ran the ball for 108 yards and only allowed one sack. Moore earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 73.9, which was the highest among all SEC centers that faced an FBS team this weekend.
What’s really interesting is who didn’t earn any recognition from the SEC, especially on the defensive side. “LSU’s defense is back!” was one of the biggest stories of week 1, but nobody from that unit got any love. Harold Perkins had 5 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, two hurries and a sack, while Mansoor Delane had as many interceptions as he did catches allowed, but neither earned recognition from the folks in Birmingham. It doesn’t really matter obviously, and LSU’s got much bigger goals than “week one player of the week honors,” but one of Perkins or Delane probably deserved something this week. Maybe they’ll make up for it with a Thorpe or a Butkus award.
