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\nThe last time LSU played Houston was in 2000. The Tigers won 28-13 and lead the series, 2-1 overall.<\/p>\n
\nThe last time LSU played Houston was in 2000. The Tigers won 28-13 and lead the series, 2-1 overall.<\/p>\n
By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, TIGER RAG STAFF Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n LSU has played in 56 total bowl games (34-21-1) in its program history. The Tigers are playing in their 57th bowl on Saturday as LSU (7-5, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) faces No. 21 Houston (9-3, 6-3 Big 12) on Saturday evening at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas in the Kinder\u2019s Texas Bowl (8:15 p.m., ESPN).<\/p>\n LSU is 2-1 all-time in Texas Bowls and it\u2019s playing in its second straight one after defeating Baylor 44-31 on New Year\u2019s Eve last year.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at each Texas Bowl game the Tigers have played:<\/p>\n LSU\u2019s first ever trip to the Texas Bowl did not disappoint. After saving his job with a 19-7 win over Texas A&M, head coach Les Miles made sure he was prepared for Kliff Kingsbury\u2019s Red Raiders.<\/p>\n The Tigers\u2019 run-heavy offense gave Texas Tech trouble all night, particularly star sophomore running back Leonard Fournette. The New Orleans native carried the ball 29 times for 212 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. In addition to his dominant night on the ground, Fournette caught a 44-yard touchdown pass. LSU outgained Texas Tech 638-399.<\/p>\n Defensively, LSU did enough to stop Texas Tech, despite giving up nearly 400 yards of offense. The Tigers sacked Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes six times and intercepted him once.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a night that Leonard Fournette would have again and again and again,\u201d Miles said after the win. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t call it routine because he is not a routine runner; he\u2019s a special back. But we would expect him to have nights like this. He\u2019s fast and strong and capable.\u201d<\/p>\n STATISTICS: QB Brandon Harris, LSU: 14-of-23 passing, 261 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 41 yards on 3 carries, 1 TD; RB Leonard Fournette, LSU, 212 yards on 29 carries, 4 TD, 1 catch for 44 yards, 1 TD; QB Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech, 28-of-56 passing, 370 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT<\/p>\n<\/p>\n LSU\u2019s second time in the Texas Bowl was certainly one to forget when it comes to the actual game, but there\u2019s still notable stories from the game. Ed Orgeron was notified that he would be fired after a loss to Kentucky and eventually finished the season out. Offensive line coach Brad Davis coached the Tigers for the bowl game before Brian Kelly took over his new program.<\/p>\n In a game where LSU only had 38 scholarship players available, senior wide receiver Jontre Kirkland of Lutcher played quarterback for the Tigers. LSU wouldn\u2019t stand a chance, though. Kansas State outgained LSU 442-308.<\/p>\n But Kirkland\u2019s performance and efforts would be remembered by Tiger fans.<\/p>\n \u201cShoot, we Fightin\u2019 Tigers man. We ain\u2019t bout to back down from nobody,\u201d Kirkland said after the loss. \u201cIt don\u2019t matter. If we got 11, we gone play.\u201d<\/p>\n STATISTICS: QB Jontre Kirkland, LSU, 7-of-11 passing 138 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT, 61 yards on 11 rushes; QB Skylar Thompson, Kansas State, 21-of-28 passing, 259 yards, 3 TD; RB Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State, 146 yards on 21 carries, 3 TD<\/p>\n<\/p>\n LSU\u2019s most recent trip to the Texas Bowl came last season, in 2024. There was lots of excitement for the 2025 season because quarterback Garrett Nussmeier had just announced he would return to Baton Rouge for his fifth year of college football.<\/p>\n LSU\u2019s offense erupted for 427 yards as Nussmeier passed for 313 yards and three touchdowns. The Tigers\u2019 defense gave up over 500 yards of offense, but intercepted a pass which would do enough to give LSU a comfortable lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know cynics would say it\u2019s disappointing,\u201d LSU head coach Brian Kelly said after the game. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t disappointing. It was a team that was less than perfect because of inexperience. A team that gained experience. To win nine games and win three in a row at the end, I\u2019m just happy for our football team.\u201d<\/p>\n STATISTICS: QB Garrett Nussmeier, LSU, 24-of-34 passing, 313 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT; QB Sawyer Robinson, Baylor, 30-for-51 passing, 445 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; WR Chris Hilton Jr., LSU, 4 catches for 113 yards, 1 TD; TE Trey\u2019Dez Green, LSU, 6 catches for 53 yards, 2 TD<\/p>\n LSU vs HOUSTON SERIES HISTORY<\/strong><\/p>\n In its history playing against the University of Houston, LSU is 2-1 all-time. In the Tigers\u2019 first matchup against the Cougars (1996), LSU trailed 34-14 going into the fourth quarter, but with help from running back Kevin Faulk, the Tigers came back to win 35-34. Faul rushed for 262 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns, which at the time set the single-game rushing record for LSU.<\/p>\n In LSU\u2019s second matchup against Houston (1999), the Cougars upset the Tigers 20-7 in Baton Rouge. The loss ended the Gerry DiNardo era as he was fired the week before the game. DiNardo did not coach the season finale against Arkansas.<\/p>\n In 2000, LSU hosted Houston and defeated the Cougars, 20-13, \u00a0fueled by a dominant second quarter where QB Josh Booty threw for two touchdowns (to Joe Domingeaux & Robert Royal) and RB\u00a0Labrandon Toefield<\/a>\u00a0scored, turning a close game into a comfortable win despite\u00a0Jason McKinley<\/a>\u2018s strong passing for Houston. The Tigers\u2019 defense also pressured McKinley, forcing crucial plays, and special teams helped with great punting and a key fumble recovery after a hard hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The last time LSU played Houston was in 2000. The Tigers won 28-13 and lead the series, 2-1…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":473226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,9659,214639,358,214640,3187,112066],"class_list":{"0":"post-473225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-lsu-football","10":"tag-lsu-football-news","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-bowl","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-university-of-houston-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115787017535358209","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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