HOUSTON – A couple of minutes after the clock struck midnight – literally and figuratively – on LSU’s 38-35 loss to No. 21-ranked Houston in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on Saturday night in NRG Stadium, ESPN’s sideline reporter breathlessly asked Houston quarterback Conner Weigman the following question in his post-game interview.
“What do you want America to know about the Houston Cougars?”
Hold on, Conner, I’ll take that one.
The almost-fully loaded Cougars, playing with hardly any players opting out, barely won a bowl game played 6½ miles from its campus over a watered-down LSU squad that had seven defensive starters missing with injuries and opt-outs. It included its trio of first-team linebackers and its two best defensive backs, featuring a consensus first-team All-American.
“There was certainly a gap from those guys opting out,” said Frank Wilson, who was 2-3 as LSU’s interim coach in a 7-6 season. “We didn’t cry about it. We didn’t wince. We didn’t make an issue of it. We just got the next guy ready to play.”
Houston (10-3) slipped by one of college football’s most anemic offenses that had three new starting linemen and two new starting receivers, but still somehow broke the 25-point barrier for the first time this season against an FBS opponent.
The Cougars scored the second-most points ever by an LSU bowl opponent. The record was 42, set by Kansas State in 2021 when the depleted Tigers with fewer than 40 scholarship players and a one-game-only interim coach, limped into the Texas Bowl and lost by 22 points.
It was better this time around. Wilson was coaching his fifth and final game as interim coach. And instead of using a wide receiver (Jontre Kirklin) as its starting quarterback as LSU did in the 2021 Texas Bowl, it had a QB starting his fourth game for the Tigers.
Michael Van Buren, who was largely ineffective in most of his previous starts replacing the injured Garrett Nussmeier, had his best game. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 267 yards, three TDs and no interceptions.
For the first time in months, the Tigers did enough things right to win a shootout-type game.
LSU slapped the spit out of Houston’s collective mouth by jumping to a 14-0 lead in the first 4:12 of the night. Barion Brown roared 99 yards for a game-opening TD kickoff return, followed by Van Buren’s first of two TD passes to tight end Trey’Dez Green.
But the Tigers also had their share of screwups.
“There were certain moments in the game where we just did things that beat ourselves,” Van Buren said. “I could have done a couple of things better.”
After LSU’s sizzling start, Houston scored 21 straight points for a 21-14 halftime lead. The Cougars accelerated when LSU’s Damian Ramos missed a field goal, running back Harlem Berry fumbled (and was benched the rest of the game), Van Buren was sacked three times and the Tigers had seven penalties for 70 yards.
LSU had more penalty yards (95 on nine infractions) on the night than it did rushing (77 on 24 attempts).
Six penalties by the Tigers’ defense contributed heavily to four Houston TD drives. The mild-mannered Wilson got an unsportsmanlike conduct call after the fairly inept Big Ten officiating crew wouldn’t explain to him a defensive pass interference penalty against the Tigers on a woefully underthrown, uncatchable pass by Weigman.
In the end, Houston’s huge advantage in number of offensive snaps (82 to 50) and time of possession (38:32 to 21:28) was too much to overcome.
“We didn’t get them off the field in situational football,” Wilson said. “It allowed them to have life, opportunity and hope.”
The difference in scoring was that a missed LSU field goal of 44 yards by Ramos that would have given LSU a 17-7 edge with 3:04 left in the first quarter and a made Houston field goal of 25 yards by Ethan Sanchez with 7:42 left to play for a 31-28 Cougars’ lead.
The game’s sideshow was a drive-by appearance by new LSU head coach Lane Kiffin. He stayed long enough to shake some hands during pregame warmups and conduct a press box interview with the ESPN duo Tom Hart and Cole Cubelic before jetting back to Baton Rouge long before the game was over.
All of the coaches Kiffin hired off his Ole Miss staff are still involved with the Rebels as they prepare for Thursday’s Jan. 1 College Football Playoff quarterfinal vs. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. It means that Kiffin and new LSU general manager Billy Glasscock and senior player personnel director Mike Williams are left putting the final touches on the board listing the Tigers’ potential transfer portal buys.
The portal opens at midnight on Jan. 2, meaning the Ole Miss-Georgia game will have just ended as Kiffin begins tracking down the bulk of the Tigers’ 2026 roster.
With $25 million to $30 million at Kiffin’s disposal, the Tigers need players at almost every position. But the priorities are at quarterback (a $3 million to $4 million purchase for an experienced starter) and offensive linemen ($500,000 to $1.2 million).
Wilson, who became LSU’s interim when head coach Brian Kelly was fired Oct. 26 after the Tigers lost 49-25 to Texas A&M, now moves on to his new job as running backs coach on the staff of new Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding. When Wilson was head coach at Texas-San Antonio, he hired Golding as defensive coordinator in 2016.
“I’ve given my undivided attention to this (LSU) team to this point,” said Wilson, a New Orleans native who finished a second coaching stint with the Tigers. “I haven’t peered over the fence to see what that looks like going beyond.
“When I was asked if I wanted to coach this game, I said to an (LSU) administrator, `I’m gonna burn this building down if you don’t let me finish with my boys.
“My love for them is unconditional. I really wanted a victory because of all they’ve gone through. They wore the purple and gold with pride and dignity. I’m proud of our football team and proud of the way they competed to the best of their ability.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com