3:30 p.m. | ESPN
NRG Stadium Houston, Texas
SERIES HISTORY
• Baylor will be meeting LSU for the 12th time in series history and the first time since facing LSU in the 1985 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., a 21-7 Baylor win. LSU leads the all-time series, 8-3. • LSU has won three of the last four meetings and opened the series with wins in five straight games from 1907- 1959. the Bears won in 1960, 1963 and 1985.
Baylor Bears Notes
STORY LINES
• Baylor football – having just completed the longest winning streak to conclude a regular season in program history – has advanced to its 27th all-time bowl and its 12th in the last 15 years and will face off with LSU. • The Bears will be facing off with LSU for the first time since the 1985 Liberty Bowl and will be venturing to Houston for a bowl game for the first time since besting Vanderbilt in the 2018 Academy Sports Houston Bowl. • The Bears are in the fifth year under Coach Dave Aranda, who in 2021 led the Bears to the best season in school history with a 12-2 record, a Big 12 Championship and the 2022 Sugar Bowl. Aranda directed the Bears to the Armed Force Bowl in 2022 and after a 3-9 season in 2023, has taken over defensive play calling duties. • Aranda taking over defensive play calling is his first time directing a defense since he established himself as one of the top defensive minds in football as the DC at LSU, Wisconsin and Delta State. He is also directing the inside linebackers. • Since 2011, combined with football, and men’s and women’s basketball, Baylor leads the nation in wins, owning 46 more wins than the next closest program (UConn). • LSU leads the all-time series with the Bears, 8-3 and Baylor leads the series 3-1 all-time in neutral site games, also facing the Tigers in bowl games in 1985, and the 1963 Bluebonnet Bowl. • The Bears finished the regular season having won six straight games, the longest streak to conclude a regular season in program history. • QB Sawyer Robertson leads the Big 12 Conference in QB rating (83.9) and ranks sixth in the nation. He has had seven of his 10 starts in 2024 come with a QBR of at least 80. A native of Lubbock and a product of Coronado High School, Robertson was a former four-star recruit who opened his career playing for Coach Mike Leach at Mississippi State before joining the Bears for the 2023 season. • WR Josh Cameron has hauled in nine TDs in 2024, leading the team and ranking tied for 11th in single-season BU history. Cameron has 44 catches for 643 yards and ranks second the nation in punt returns, averaging 20.7 yards per return. He has 941 all-purpose yards through 12 games in 2024.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• LSU comes into the game with the Bears owning a 8-4 record and posting a 5-3 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The Tigers have won two straight, going 6-1 at Tiger Stadium and 2-2 in road games. LSU owned a ranking as high as No. 8, which followed a 29-26 overtime win over No. 9 Ole Miss. The Tigers were ranked in 10 of their 12 games in 2024. • LSU wrapped up its regular season with a 37-17 beatdown of Oklahoma in Baton Rouge, La., on Nov. 30, which followed a 24-17 win over upstart Vanderbilt. LSU suffered losses vs. Florida, No. 11 Alabama, No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 23 USC, earning wins over Nicholls, South Carolina, UCLA, South Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Vanderbilt at OU. • LSU is under the direction of third-year head coach Brian Kelly, a decorated winner who has served as a successful head coach at Grand Valley State (1991-2003), Central Michigan (2004-06), Cincinnati (2006-09), Notre Dame (2010-21) and LSU (2022-24). Including all stops, Kelly owns a 291-107-2 all-time record and has gone 28-11 in his three years at LSU, helping the Tigers to a 10-4 season in 2022 – including a Citrus Bowl win – a 10-3 mark in 2023 – including a ReliaQuest Bowl win – and an 8-4 mark in 2024. Kelly went 92-39 in his tenure in South Bend, Ind. • Kelly is assisted by associate head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson, the former head coach at UTSA and McNeese, defensive coordinator Blake Baker and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. Cortez Hankton serves as the co-offensive coordinator. A native of Houston, Baker is in his first year as the DC, after serving as Missouri’s DC from 2022-23 and previously serving as the LB coach at LSU in 2021. He was the DC at Miami from 2019-20 and Louisiana Tech from 2015-18. Sloan coached QBs at LSU from 2022-23 before taking over as the OC in 2024. He was on the staff at Louisiana Tech from 2013-21, including time as the OC from 2020-21. • The Tigers average 431.9 yards per game, including 315.3 passing and 116.6 rushing. Defensively, LSU allows 352.5 yards per game, including 205.9 passing and 146.6 rushing. LSU averages 29.3 points per game and allows 23.7. QB Garrett Nussmeier has thrown for 3,739 yards with 26 TDs and 11 interceptions. Caden Durham has rushed for 693 yards with six TDs on 127 carries, while Josh Williams has added 108 rushes for 440 yards and five TDs. Kyren Lacey has hauled in a tea-leading 58 catches for 866 yards and nine TDs, while Aaron Anderson has caught 53 balls for 784 yards with five TDs and Mason Taylor owns 55 grabs for 546 yards and two scores. Defensively, White Weeks has 119 tackles, 10 for a loss and 3.5 sacks. Greg Penn III has 80 tackles, Bradyn Swinson has 8.5 sacks and 12 QB hurries and Zy Alexander owns two interceptions.
SIX-GAME WIN STREAK
• Baylor is riding a six-game winning streak, its most since 2021, entering the bowl game seeking its first six-game streak since 2019. The five-game win streak vs. Big 12 teams is its most since 2019. • The six-game streak includes a furious offensive attack that ranks among the nation’s leaders. • Below is a breakdown of the offensive stats in the first six games, a 2-4 start, and the six-game win streak.
LAST MEETING
• Baylor will be facing LSU for the first time since the 1985 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., which saw the Bears post a 21-7 win, using a second-quarter field goal and a fourth-quarter TD and two-point conversion to earn the win. • The Bears used a strong defensive effort in the win, holding LSU to just nine first downs and 192 yards of total offense. Baylor totaled 26 first downs, 489 yards of offense, including 274 passing and 215 yards rushing. QB Cody Carlson threw for 161 yards and two TDs and Tom Muecke had 113 yards passing. Nine Bears rushed it at least twice. John Simpson had three catches for 117 yards and a score and Matt Clark had three catches and a TD. Alan Jamison led the Bears with 11 tackles, with Thomas Everett chipping in eight stops. • The Bears concluded the 1985 season with a 9-3 mark, going 6-2 in the Southwest Conference, earning a No. 17 ranking in the final AP poll.
BOWL HISTORY: BEARS MAKE 12TH APPEARANCE IN LAST 15 YEARS
• For the 12th time in the last 15 years, the Baylor Bears are making a post-season bowl appearance. • It marks the first trip to Houston for Baylor since besting Vanderbilt in the Academy Sports Houston Bowl in 2018. • Baylor has advanced to 27 prior bowl games in its history (going 14-13) and has made three bowl trips under Coach Dave Aranda, also claiming the Sugar Bowl Title in 2021 in New Orleans, topping Ole Miss 21-7 and facing off with Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. • The Bears first went to a bowl game in 1948, the Dixie Bowl which featured a 20-7 win over Wake Forest. Over the next 61 years, the Bears attended 16 bowl games, before starting a stretch of success in the program in 2010 that has seen Baylor attend bowls in 12 of 15 years.
BAYLOR ON NEW YEAR’S EVE
• Baylor will be playing its first game on New Year’s Eve since 1994, a 10-3 loss vs. Washington State in the Alamo Bowl. • The Bears are 3-5 all-time on New Year’s Eve, with each game on NYE coming in the form of a bowl game.
A BAYLOR WIN WOULD …
• Make Baylor 9-4 on the year. • Improve Coach Dave Aranda to 32-29 in his fifth year as the head coach of the Bears. • Make the Bears 639-626-44 all-time. • Extend Baylor’s win streak to seven games, its longest since 2015-16 and its longest in a single-season since 2015. • Make Baylor 15-13 all-time in bowl games and Aranda 2-1. • Extend the program record for longest win streak to end a season, topping the 2011 season. • Cut the LSU lead in the series to 8-4 and even the series in neutral-site meetings, 2-2. • Give Aranda his first win over LSU.
OFFENSIVE FIREWORKS IN OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
• Baylor ranks among the best offenses in college football over the last two months, checking in No. 5 in the nation in yards per game (481.43) – and second among power-4 schools – No. 5 in yards per play (6.91) – and fourth among power-4 schools – and sixth in college football in points per game (40.8). Among power-4 schools, Baylor ranks fourth in points per game.
LSU Tigers Notes
OFFENSIVE FIREWORKS IN OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
• Baylor ranks among the best offenses in college football over the last two months, checking in No. 5 in the nation in yards per game (481.43) – and second among power-4 schools – No. 5 in yards per play (6.91) – and fourth among power-4 schools – and sixth in college football in points per game (40.8). Among power-4 schools, Baylor ranks fourth in points per game.
QUICK NOTES
• LSU is making its 56th bowl/post season appearance. The Tigers are 30-24-1 all-time in bowl/post season games, which includes a 2-0 record in the College Football Playoffs. • LSU will be making its 25th bowl/playoff appearance since the turnaround of the program in 2000. Since 2000, LSU has won 3 national championships, 5 SEC titles and gone 16-8 in bowl/playoff games. • LSU is appearing in the Texas Bowl for the third time. LSU is 1-1 in the Texas Bowl, beating Texas Tech (56-27) on Dec. 29, 2015 and falling to Kansas State, 42-20, on Jan. 4, 2022. • LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier ranks No. 2 in the SEC and in the Top 10 nationally in passing yards (No. 6 at 3,739), passing yards per game (No. 6 at 311.6), and total offense per game (No. 8 at 307.8). Nussmeier is No. 2 in the SEC and ranks No. 13 nationally in passing TDs (26). • In 13 career starts, Nussmeier has thrown for at least 2 TDs 9 times and topped the 300-yard mark 8 times, including 7 in 2024. He’s guided LSU to an 9-4 mark as a starter. • QB Garrett Nussmeier’s 313 completions (491 att.) leads the SEC and ranks No. 4 in the nation. They also rank No. 2 in school history for a single-season, trailing only Joe Burrow (402 in 2019). • LSU is 24-2 under Brian Kelly when reaching the 30-point mark. LSU is 6-0 this year after going 10-1 in 2023 and 8-1 in 2022 when scoring at least 30 points in a game. LSU has won 13 straight games when scoring at least 30 points. • LSU leads the SEC and ranks No. 8 in the nation in third-down conversion percentage at 49 percent (86-of-174). • LSU has won 17 SEC regular-season games in 3 years under Brian Kelly, which ranks as the third-highest total in the league during that span, trailing only Georgia (22) and Alabama (19). • RB Caden Durham earned Freshman All-SEC honors and leads the Tigers in rushing with 693 yards and 6 TDs on 127 carries. He’s averaging 5.5 yards per carry. His 693 rushing yards were the most by any freshmen in the SEC in 2024. • LB Whit Weeks ranks No. 3 in the SEC in tackles per game (9.9). He recorded double-digit tackles in 5 of LSU’s 8 conference games, including a career-best 18 in the win over Ole Miss and 17 vs. Alabama and Oklahoma. His 119 total tackles rank just outside LSU’s top 10 list for a single-season. • LSU remains atop the SEC in sacks allowed with 15.
LSU Meets Baylor For First Time Since 1985 in Kinder’s Texas Bowl on New Year’s Eve
LSU, who is coming off two-straight wins to close the 2024 season, is set to face Baylor for the first time since 1985 when it meets the Bears on New Year’s Eve in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl. The contest will be televised on ESPN and kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. LSU finished the 2024 regular season with an 8-4 mark overall and a 5-3 record in conference play. The Tigers closed the regular-season with backto-back wins over Vanderbilt (24-17) and Oklahoma (37-17). Baylor (8-4, 6-3 Big 12) comes into the Texas Bowl off a 45-17 victory against the Kansas Jayhawks and six-straight wins. LSU is 8-3 in the series history with Baylor, including an 0-2 mark in bowl games. Baylor beat LSU, 14-7, in the 1963 Bluebonnet Bowl and then posted a 21-7 victory over the Tigers in the 1985 Liberty Bowl.
LSU vs. Baylor: LSU leads 8-3
LSU and Baylor will meet for the 12th time in series history when both programs play in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on Dec. 31. In a series that dates back to 1907, LSU holds an 8-3 lead in the overall series against the Bears (6-1 in Baton Rouge; 1-0 in Waco; 0-1 in Houston; 0-1 in Memphis; 1-0 in Shreveport). LSU opened with five-straight victories in the series – 4 of which were played in the state of Louisiana. LSU and Baylor have met in a bowl game twice with Baylor holding a 2-0 record in those instances (1963 Bluebonnet Bowl; 1985 Liberty Bowl). Most recently, the Tigers and Bears faced off in the 1985 Liberty Bowl, where Baylor posted a 21-7 victory. In the 2024 contest, LSU will take on former defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, who ran the Tiger defense from 2016-19. Aranda was defensive coordinator for LSU’s 2019 national championship team.
LSU’s 2-1 in NRG Stadium
LSU brings a 2-1 mark in games played in NRG Stadium into the Baylor contest. The Tigers beat Wisconsin, 28–24, to open the 2014 season at NRG Stadium followed by a 56-27 victory over Texas Tech in the 2015 Texas Bowl. Most recently, LSU dropped a 42-20 decision to Kansas State in 2021 when the Tigers only fielded 38 scholarship players and had WR Jaray Jenkins start at QB. LSU was scheduled to play BYU in the 2017 season-opener at NRG Stadium, however, severe flooding to Houston forced the game to be moved to the Superdome in New Orleans. LSU won that game against BYU, 27-0. Here’s a quick look at LSU’s NRG Stadium history: Year Opponent Results Noteworthy 2014 Wisconsin W, 28-24 LSU overcame a 24-7 second half deficit to win 2015 Texas Tech W, 56-27 Fournette rushes for 212 yards and scores 5 TDs (4 rush, 1 rec.) 2021 Kansas State L, 42-20 WR Jontre Kirklin starts at QB; Tigers play with 38 scholarship players
LSU At Home In A Dome
LSU will be making its 47th appearance in a domed stadium against Baylor. The Tigers are 34-12 all-time in games played in a domed stadium, which includes a 2-1 mark in NRG Stadium. LSU’s last game in a domed stadium came in the 2024 season opener featuring LSU and USC at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. This is LSU’s third appearance in NRG Stadium in Houston at the home of the Texans. The two previous appearances included a 56-27 victory over Texas Tech in 2015 and a 42-20 loss to Kansas State in 2021.
LSU’s History at The Texas Bowl: 1-1 Record
LSU will make its third appearance in the Texas Bowl when the Tigers face Baylor on Dec. 31 inside NRG Stadium. LSU’s other appearances included matchups against Texas Tech (LSU won, 56-27) and Kansas State (KSU won, 42-20). Against the Red Raiders in 2015, numerous LSU bowl records were set. LSU RB Leonard Fournette led an offensive rushing explosion with 212 yards and an LSU bowl-record tying 4 rushing TDs. He also accounted for 30 points in the game, another LSU bowl record, as he added a 44-yard TD reception. In 2021, when the Tigers returned to Houston for a bowl game with the Wildcats, LSU had only 38 scholarship players available for the game, and WR Jontre Kirklin was the Tigers’ starting quarterback, playing the position for the first time since 2016 when he was a senior at Lutcher (La.) High School.
LSU vs. the Big 12
LSU is 37-9-1 against current members of the Big 12 conference. The Tigers have played all but one current member of the Big 12 with Kansas the only member of the league LSU has yet to play in football. LSU has played Baylor more times (11) than any other Big 12 team, while its 8 victories over the Bears stand as the most against any program from that conference. Here’s a look at LSU’s record against current members of the Big 12: 8-3 vs. Baylor, 6-2-1 vs. TCU, 5-1 vs. Colorado, 3-0 vs. Arizona and Texas Tech, 2-0 vs. Utah and West Virginia, 2-1 vs. Houston 1-1 vs. Kansas State, 1-0 vs. Arizona State, BYU, Central Florida, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State, 0-1 vs. Cincinnati.
LSU To Appear In A Bowl Game For 56th Time
LSU will make its 56th bowl appearance when the Tigers take on Baylor in the Texas Bowl. LSU is 30-24- 1 all-time in bowl games, which includes a 2-0 mark in the College Football Playoffs. Dating back to the 2000 season, LSU has appeared in a bowl game every year except for 2020. Last year, LSU’s QB Garrett Nussmeier led the Tigers to a 35-31 victory over Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
BK In Bowl Games: 8-6
Since Becoming FBS Head Coach When Brian Kelly leads LSU in the Texas Bowl, he will be playing in the 15th bowl game of his career as a Division I head coach. Kelly is 8-6 in the 14 games he’s coached, including a 2-0 mark at LSU. Here is a look at Kelly’s history in bowl games:
