| When Caden Durham came out of the LSU locker room to talk to reporters after Saturday night's 34-10 win at Arkansas, he wore his No. 29 on a silver chain around his neck and a walking boot on his left foot. Durham suffered an injury Sept. 28 against South Alabama but has continued to play, and thrive. His 101-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Razorbacks impressed his coach for sure. "A lot of guys would not be in the game," Brian Kelly said Monday. "He's playing at about 80-85%, but he's got great vision, he's got toughness (and he) keeps his legs moving." Durham has been a big part of LSU's success, winning six straight games and rising to No. 7 and 8 in the national polls going into this Saturday's showdown at No. 14 Texas A&M. LSU is 6-1 and 3-0 in the SEC, the Aggies 6-1 and 4-0. The question is, how healthy, or durable will Durham be when the Tigers possibly need him most? Meanwhile, some of the talk Monday was on LSU quarterback Garrettn Nussmeier and his productivity within the framework of Joe Sloan and Cortez Hankton's offense. Our Wilson Alexander filed this report below: ------------------------ Completion percentage helps measure a quarterback’s efficiency, and sometimes it correlates with productivity. For example, former LSU quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels exceeded 70% while taking regular deep shots when they won the Heisman Trophy. Brian Kelly does not expect that from Garrett Nussmeier this year. Instead, LSU’s coach said Monday that Nussmeier’s completion percentage will probably be somewhere “in the 60s” because the Tigers’ offense does not use a lot of easy pass concepts. Nussmeier has completed 64.7% of his throws before No. 8 LSU plays No. 14 Texas A&M, which ranks 40th nationally among qualified players. He has a 55% completion rate (69 of 125) so far against Southeastern Conference teams, even though his other numbers rank among the nation's best. Kelly is not concerned, and his answer Monday revealed a window into how LSU wants to attack defenses. “We're not a team that takes some of the bubble screens and the quick entry throws as part of what we do on a consistent basis,” Kelly said. “I've had some offensive structures that we would throw it 70% because we were throwing easy throws out on the perimeter. We don't have a lot of those.” Nussmeier has attempted only 38 passes behind the line of scrimmage, according to Pro Football Focus, indicative of the lack of screens within LSU's playbook. But there are times when LSU has used what Kelly called “free access throws on the perimeter.” Arkansas tried to avoid getting beat deep, so Nussmeier hit short routes on the outside that took advantage of soft coverage. He had a season-low 233 yards passing and did not throw for a touchdown for the first time as a starter, but LSU won 34-10 anyway. “They were taking what we were giving him,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “I mean, they were throwing 8- and 10-yard hitch routes, and they were wide open. Obviously, we tried some different things there. Tried some man-to-man and tried some zero coverage, total coverage. Nussmeier was really good and their wideouts were really good.” The exception has primarily come on medium-to-short third downs. Kelly said "there are manufactured throws that are higher percentage to keep the chains moving" in those situations, but Nussmeier generally has to work through progressions that result in “more complex throws.” While that approach can affect his completion percentage, Kelly thinks the passing offense is “much more difficult to defend because you don't know where the ball is going" on any given play. “We're able to move the ball all over the field,” Kelly said. “It makes it much more difficult for you to roll coverages, isolate particular players. When you're in a full field progression, there's a little bit more there relative to opportunities. “With that, you're not getting some of the cupcake throws that keep the chains moving in some other offenses, so percentages tend to dip a little bit. But we feel like that is a better fit for Garrett in terms of what he does, and it has worked pretty good for our offense.” To Kelly’s point, six players have recorded at least 10 catches this season. Three — wide receiver Kyren Lacy, tight end Mason Taylor and wide receiver Aaron Anderson — have more than 30 receptions. Senior receiver CJ Daniels isn’t far behind them, and he missed one game. Daniels returned to record a season-high seven catches for 86 yards against Arkansas. “The hardest thing is they’ve got a clearly established No. 1 (in Lacy), but they also have three other people — including a tight end — who can flat out beat you if you don’t pay them the appropriate attention, too,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “It makes the passing game extremely dynamic and productive for them.” Nussmeier ranks seventh nationally at 317.4 yards passing per game, and he leads the SEC with 18 touchdowns passes. He also ranks second in the conference with 2,222 yards passing. Volume has helped — his 283 pass attempts are third-most in the country — but he has made several plays in critical moments. “He can throw the ball all over the field,” Elko said. “He’s got a tremendous arm. He’s got a lot of moxie. You can see that in him." The potential issue is Nussmeier has been less efficient in SEC games compared to his season averages. The only two games in which he has thrown for less than 300 yards were against South Carolina and Arkansas. He completed a season-low 43% of his passes and had two interceptions against Ole Miss. Last year, Daniels completed 72% of his throws while winning the Heisman Trophy. Kelly said Daniels’ “efficiency and completion percentage was a product of how well he was throwing the football." Kelly did not view that as something Nussmeier needs to match in his first season as a starter. “Our percentage is going to be a little bit lower,” Kelly said. “We're not going to be in the 70-75 percentile. We're probably going to be in the 60s. It's really what our choice is relative to the kind of passing game that we're running with Garrett.” ------------------------ In my column from Monday, I go into LSU's growing respect on the national stage and how the Tigers have gone from an afterthought to a CFP contender during their winning streak. We've got a list of national postseason predictions for the Tigers as well. Did you notice that funky looking stacked blitz LSU used against Arkansas? Here's a little more about it. Gabe Henderson has odds and TV info on the Texas A&M game. And Wilson Alexander is back with his weekly request for your questions for his mailbag feature (he's kind of needy that way, but what are you going to do?). You know how we wrap this up ... thank you as always for reading and subscribing. We'll catch you next time. Scott Rabalais | 
