The LSU Tigers played in their second straight Texas Bowl on Saturday night, but they didn’t have the same success as they did last year, losing this one 38-35 to the Houston Cougars.
While it would have been fun to get a win to close out Frank Wilson’s time as the interim coach and in the final game in purple and gold for a lot of Tigers players, LSU wasn’t able to get it done. It’s now officially the start of the Lane Kiffin era.
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The game started better than any other Tigers matchup has this year as the speedy Barion Brown brought the opening kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown. It’s technically their best start in almost 50 years since the last time they opened a game with a kickoff return touchdown, which was December 2, 1978, against the Wyoming Cowboys, per Todd Politz.
With how much LSU has struggled to score on opening drives this season, it was a welcome change. They kept that momentum rolling early as they forced a punt and got their second touchdown before three minutes had elapsed to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead early.
After that, though, the offense started to look like it had all year once again. The next three drives ended in a Damian Ramos missed a field goal, a Harlem Berry fumble and a punt. That gave the Cougars enough time to jump out to a 21-14 lead. LSU did tie the game at one point, but Houston got the lead back on the next drive.
The Tigers finally scored more than 25 points against an FBS opponent, which is an unfortunate sentence to have to type during the Bowl Game, but it wasn’t enough. The defense, without a couple of key starters, gave up their second-most points of the year.
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LSU’s offensive line, which has seen four players enter the transfer portal, had another poor performance. While Michael Van Buren Jr wasn’t perfect, he didn’t get much help from up front. Houston had four sacks and drew a couple of penalties.
There’s not much use in focusing on the negative, though, as there will be countless changes before the team takes the field even for the spring game next year.
Kyle Parker had a nice game and is someone that Kiffin should be focusing on bringing back to man the slot next season. He’s been buried on the depth chart for too long and always seems to impress when he gets a chance. Parker finished with seven catches, 68 yards and a touchdown.
Trey’Dez Green reminded everyone what a dominant force he can be with four catches for 80 yards and two scores.
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There were plenty of positives and negatives that sung the same song that has played all year with this team. Now, it’s just time to get excited about what’s next for the program under Kiffin.
