Local high school football coaches have shared their thoughts looking back at the 2025 season, and looking ahead. Not everything that happens is easy.
That’s today’s primary question. One more edition Wednesday wraps up the Shreveport-Bossier Journal Coaches’ Roundtable until next season.
What tough moments or times stick with you from this season?
JUSTIN SCOGIN, Airline: “The three-game losing streak was tough to take, especially with how successful we had been previously (the Vikings’ 14-game District 1-5A winning streak was ended Sept. 28 at Evangel, 51-49; see the game story in this edition) but our kids fought and battled and won the last four going into the playoffs. That says a lot about a group when they are able to rebound like these guys did.”
GARY SMITH, Bossier: “The toughest moment was the last play of our BTW game (a 42-41 loss Sept. 26 in the District 1-4A opener for both teams). A great game that they came out on top in, but it was tough to lose that one.”
GARY COOPER, Booker T. Washington: “The toughest moment was Vontravious Moore going down in the Istrouma (playoff) game. He always gave us everything he had on the field. He limped off and I expected him to be back on the field, but he couldn’t go.
“He did all he could on the sideline to try and play until he came to me, eyes full of tears, and said, ‘Coach I’m sorry, I can’t go.’”
JERRY BYRD, Plain Dealing: “The worst moment came at the end of the game against Glenbrook. There were late hits and unsportsmanlike behavior on both sides. It started to feel like the officials and coaches were losing control of the game so I told my players to get off the field and go get on the bus.
“The only other worst moment is when the final clock runs out, you visit with your team one last time after a game, and you walk off that field for the final time. Depression sets in.”
MATTHEW SEWELL, Haughton: “We had too many tough moments to pick one. We had the lead or were within two points of the lead in the second half in six of our eight losses this season. We were close a lot but not close enough. Hopefully we can fix that this offseason and start winning those close games.”
STACY BALLEW, Byrd: “We had a bunch of tough moments. When you have eight losses, there’s no shortage.”
COY BROTHERTON, Parkway: “It has to be the loss to Ouachita. Losing by less than a TD (28-22 in the state quarterfinals at home Nov. 28) and then seeing them win it all. It hurt that night but it still bites at us knowing we were so close to beating the eventual state champion.”
What 2025 seniors had breakout seasons?
SCOGIN, Airline: “I wouldn’t really say ‘breakout’ because he’s been good for so long but Braylyn Jackson really solidified himself as one of the best I’ve coached. He’s not flashy but he will knock you into next week.
“Also Jeremiah Epps — they’re both three-year starters and we wouldn’t be where we are without those guys.”
What about a player to watch next season, based on his play in 2025?
SCOGIN, Airline: “On our offensive line, Daylen Carmouche really had a great season at left tackle. He got better every week and plays with a mean streak. I am expecting big things out of him next season.”
POPPED LOOSE: Evangel quarterback Pop Houston begins his scramble for the tying two-point conversion late in the Eagles’ win over defending District 1-5A champion Airline Sept. 28. (Journal photo by RAYNALDO ALEXANDER, Sniper Sports Photography)
By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
(NOTE – As the New Year approaches, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal staff is looking back at some of our favorite content from 2025. Here’s a game story from a Sept. 28 showdown that set the tone for the District 1-5A football race.)
Close games turn on a handful of plays. Friday night’s battle between District 1-5A stalwarts Airline and Evangel turned on a bucketful.
And it lived up to billing, down to the last snap. For the first time in 14 district games, Airline wound up disappointed, but the Vikings lingered on the field at Evangel’s Rodney Duron Stadium for quite a while after the Eagles’ 51-49 victory.
Maybe it was because they realized it was going to take a while for the traffic to crawl out of the front gates of the ECA campus and their buses were going nowhere fast.
But that was a convenient consequence. Airline (3-1, 1-1 in 1-5A) and Evangel (3-1, 3-0) players chopped it up, not so much because there was nowhere to go fast, but they were in the afterglow of a big game that fit every syllable of the pregame hype.
Mutual admiration. Each coach marveled at the opposing offense – and bragged about his defense.
“I felt like we did a really good job at times, that’s the crazy thing,” said Airline’s Justin Scogin, “and they still scored 51.”
“What he did out there offensively tonight was masterful,” said Evangel’s Denny Duron about Scogin’s play calling. “He was floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee. We had quite a battle. Airline, they’re for real. They can score points on anybody.”
Duron was deservedly delighted in the aftermath.
“This isn’t the Super Bowl, and I’m talking like it is,” he said, “but this is a pretty big game for us.”
After a 5-5 regular season in their return to 1-5A last year, the Eagles had better things in mind. Expectations were higher inside and outside the program. So were the stakes Friday night – maybe not a must win, but no doubt, a statement win for the survivor.
“This doesn’t define us, but it hurts,” said Scogin. “I hope they understand we’re a really good team, and we gotta bounce back.”
Bounce back is what each team did again, and again, and again.
Take Evangel’s passing fancy, Peyton “Pop” Houston. The junior quarterback, who two weeks ago pledged to sign with LSU in the 2027 recruiting class, was intercepted only six times last year in 443 attempts.
He was victimized three times Friday night, one for a first-quarter 19-yard pick six by Airline’s Braylyn Jackson that helped Airline to a 28-14 halftime advantage.
“When you throw three picks in a game, you feel like you’ve hurt the team, but knowing you’re the quarterback, you’ve got to be the leader … find a way to keep the morale up,” he said, “and we did a great job of fighting back.”
Houston’s resiliency, tested like never before in only his second season of high school football, was added to his resume’ Friday. He finished 17 of 25 for 427 yards and three touchdowns, including third-quarter strikes of 69 yards (to Demarkus Evans) and 52 yards (to Johnny Casey Jr.) on successive plays early after halftime.
Take his teammate, linebacker and battering-ram running back Damari “Dae-Dae” Drake. Felled in the first half by what turned out to be a neck stinger (“I almost thought I was dead,” he said afterward), and pulled from the game in the third quarter after an usportsmanlike conduct penalty (“I knew I just needed to not be childish and not act out again … God gave me the chance to redeem myself”) Drake dominated the closing minutes both ways.
He rammed through five Vikings to blast in from the 1 for the decisive TD with 3:40 to go, and his power running helped Evangel evaporate the final 2:23 after Airline closed within two points.
“He just determined we were not going to lose, and took things into his own hands,” said Duron. “He took the game over, ran it down their throats. A lot of it was blocking, but he did a whole bunch on his own. He’s a warrior.”
The game pivoted over and over and over early in the fourth quarter.
Evangel almost tied it at 35 with 11:24 left, but for a missed extra point slightly dimming a series including an astonishing scramble by Houston to evade a big loss that instead was a 7-yard completion. (“No way!” Airline’s standout linebacker, Keadre Garner, exclaimed to the Eagles’ QB as the chase ended.)
Airline’s Kenny Darby promptly housed the kickoff, finding a lane up the left hash and going 97 yards for a 42-34 advantage.
Said Duron of Darby: “Not only does he live up to billing, but I’ve rarely seen anybody like him on a high school field. That’s as big a talent as there is in the country.”
Four snaps later came Houston’s last interception, a nifty swipe by Jaylan Bradley that set up Airline at the ECA 45.
The Vikings quickly gained first-and-goal, and from the 4, Darby (who shared the feature back role with D.J. Allen, along with his usual 5-star receiver duties) knifed over left tackle to the brink of a clinching TD – until the plot twist of the night.
“He was going into the end zone and probably would have sealed it,” Duron said, “but Nick Lopez timed it and punched it out. A couple of bounces and it went right into the hands of a guy who can really run.”
That was receiver and cornerback Jayden Hicks.
“I didn’t see it come out. I just saw it on the ground, picked it up and took off running,” he said, “I was looking at it on the (videoboard) screen and knew I was going all the way.”
That 99-yarder gave Evangel a chance to tie. Houston dropped back, tucked it, and weaved in for a two-point conversion that knotted it at 42-all with 7:26 left.
The Eagles’ defense, at a fever pitch, got the game’s only three-and-out, helped by a third down botched snap and a 17-yard loss back to the Airline 6. The deep snap for Airline’s only punt attempt was more costly – it sailed over the back of the end zone for a safety and a 44-42 ECA edge.
A late hit flag at the end of the return of the free kick got the Eagles to the Vikings’ 28. Three rugged runs by Drake got them a two-possession 51-42 advantage. Naturally, Airline traveled 80 yards in just over a minute behind Darby and Allen, and quarterback Chase Williams, who looped a perfect 15-yard score to Allen that trimmed the deficit down to two points.
Evangel smothered the onside kick, then picked up a 12-yard sweep by Houston before Drake discarded defenders right and left on a 36-yard jaunt to first and goal.
Just when the Eagles seemed to have iced it, they provided one more unintended thrill. Trying to score, an ECA back lost the ball just shy of the goalline and it squirted a few feet sideways, For a moment, Airline players had a shot to recover, but failed. The last half-minute faded away.
But the memories will not, on either side.
“This is definitely the most satisfying game I’ve played. It’s always fun playing Airline. I know a lot of those guys,” said Houston. “The fans came ready. We came ready. Airline came ready. It was a great game of football.”
As the new year approaches, many of us will be compiling our New Year’s resolutions, a tradition that dates back to 2000 B.C. in ancient Babylon. The Babylonians held their New Year’s celebrations during a 12-day festival called Akitu which began with the first new moon after the vernal equinox, usually in what is now March. Their New Year began with the beginning of their farming season. One common resolution from their agricultural-based society was the return of borrowed farm equipment. The ancient Romans adopted this Babylonian celebration along with the tradition of New Year’s resolutions. In 46 B.C., the Romans reformed the calendar year and created the Julian calendar which was named after Roman dictator Julius Caesar. The Julian calendar officially set January 1st as the New Year’s Day.
In more recent history, people have shifted their resolutions away from returning borrowed farm equipment to what has become the most popular New Year’s resolution of all, improved fitness. When 29-year-old Jeane Mortenson sat down in the winter of 1955 and scribbled her extensive list of resolutions for the upcoming year on the first page of her Gucci address book, she focused mainly on her career. Jeane was in the midst of a very successful career, but she was unhappy. In the margin, probably as an afterthought, Jeane scribbled, “Try to enjoy myself when I can – I’ll be miserable enough as it is.”
While most people list a maximum of three resolutions, Jeane detailed 11 resolutions. Her first four resolutions dealt with going to classes in her career field. Her first resolution was, “go to class – my own always – without fail.” Another resolution showed her determination toward her craft. She wrote, “go as often as possible to observe…other private classes.” She continued, “keep looking around me – only much more so – observing – but not only myself but others and everything – take things (it) for what they (it’s) are worth.”
In her list, she made notes on correcting certain aspects of her life. She wrote, “must make strong effort to work on current problems and phobias that out of my past has arisen – making much much much more more more more more effort in my analisis [sic]. And be there always on time – no excuses for being ever late.” Jeane resolved to take at least one class in literature and to take dancing lessons. While most of our lists of New Year’s resolutions would begin with improving physical health, that was last on Jeane’s list. She scribbled, “take care of my instrument – personally & bodily (exercise).”
Despite Jeane’s seemingly constant feeling of miserableness, her list of New Year’s resolutions allows us to see how determined she was to make the most of the opportunities she had earned or had been given. By the time she scribbled these New Year’s resolutions in December of 1955, Jeane had appeared in 26 films, she had become a star, and there were several more films to come. On February 23, 1956, just two months after she scribbled her New Year’s resolutions, Jeane legally changed her name to the one she used in her professional career. Jeane ultimately became more than a star; she became a pop culture icon. Everyone knows Norma Jeane Mortenson as Marilyn Monroe.
Sources:
1. Catherine Boeckmann, “The Interesting History Behind New Year’s Resolutions,” The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Almanac.com, December 17, 2025, accessed December 21, 2025, https://www.almanac.com/history-of-new-years-resolutions.
While visiting family in Georgia, Patsy Ruth (Haden) Oliphant, 92, of Bossier City, LA, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, December 25, 2025. Her three children were by her side in her last moments to say goodbye. Born March 16, 1933, she was the youngest of six and, at the time of her passing, the last surviving child of Joseph Daniel Haden and Notie Anna Davis Haden.
On July 7, 1951, Patsy married the love of her life, James Albert “Jimmy” Oliphant, Jr. Their devoted marriage spanned 57 wonderful years, lasting until his passing in 2008. They are now joyfully reunited in heaven.
Patsy’s life was centered around family. She was a proud mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, and she adored her son, her two daughters, and all the families that grew from them. Known to many as Aunt Pat or Grandma Patsy, she became a second mother to nieces and nephews, her children’s friends, young military families, neighbors, and members of her church. Whether she was sewing a quilt, crocheting a baby blanket, offering a place to stay, sending a thoughtful package, or simply listening with genuine care, Patsy gave freely and without hesitation. She lived her life trying to make things easier for others and never wanted to be a burden herself.
For 28 years, Patsy embraced the role of an Air Force wife. With Jimmy often away-including year long tours in Thailand and Vietnam-she showed remarkable strength and adaptability. She poured her energy into raising her family, supporting those around her, and exploring hobbies she loved: sewing, quilting, painting, cake decorating, and crocheting.
As the world changed, Patsy kept up with it. She took on computers, smartphones, and social media with enthusiasm, staying active on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more. Her ability to keep up with technology-and use it to stay connected with her children, grandchildren, extended family, and friends-impressed everyone who interacted with her online.
After Jimmy retired, the two became active members of the historical society in their hometown of Marshall, Texas, sharing a deep love of genealogy and for preserving local history. Patsy also served as a trustee of the Bracken Cemetery Association, dedicating time and care to maintaining the family burial grounds.
Patsy is survived by her son Wesley (Denise) Oliphant; daughters Patty (Chris) Moore and Penny (Randall) Jamieson; ten grandchildren-Scott Oliphant, Zachary Oliphant, Garett Oliphant, Levi Moore, Brian Moore, Sunshine Moore Anger, Oliver Moore, Leah Moore Curd, Daniel Jamieson, and Sarah Jamieson; seventeen great grandchildren with another arriving soon; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Honoring her wishes, Patsy will be cremated. A service will be held on Saturday, March 21, 2026 at Bracken Cemetery in Elysian Fields, TX.
Patsy was a modest, humble woman whose life was defined by kindness, generosity, and love. She lived with a heart full of faith, reflecting Christ’s love in every action, and reminding us of the power of God’s grace. She leaves behind a legacy that will be felt for generations, and she will be deeply missed.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Bracken Cemetery Association. Contact Wes, Patty, or Penny for information.
Minette G. Rushing, 70, died peacefully on Saturday, December 27, 2025, following a brief illness with multiple myeloma, with her beloved husband and son by her side.
Minette was born in Bossier City, Louisiana, to the late Majorie Grizzle and Chad Grizzle, Chief Master Sergeant, United States Air Force (Retired).
A renowned wedding cake designer, Minette, was celebrated for her extraordinary sugar flower artistry, which became the signature detail of countless weddings and celebrations. Her work graced events for celebrities, athletes, prominent Southern families, and-most especially-her cherished friends. She was widely regarded as an icon in the wedding industry.
Minette was also a passionate educator who was wildly generous with her time and talent. Hundreds of students spent hours in her kitchen studio, honing their craft while learning the business of baking. She believed that mastering pricing was just as important as perfecting a David Austin rose or hydrangea. Minette was adamant that a business should serve one’s life-not the other way around. Through her teaching, mentorship, and social media presence, she freely shared her philosophy, creativity, and deep love for her clients. Her friendship and mentorship knew no boundaries.
Minette was preceded in death by her beloved daughter, Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Rushing of New York, and by her parents.
She is survived by her husband, James Rushing; her son, Jon Rushing; and her sister, Jena Buttimer, of Lawrenceville, Georgia.
The family extends heartfelt gratitude for the exceptional care and support provided by the Neuro ICU staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Special thanks are also offered to Suzanne Edenfield, Diana Teston, Linda Elliott, Donna Von Bruening, and Michele Coffee for their many years of friendship and enduring support of Minette.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, December 30, 2025, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Fox & Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel, 7200 Hodgson Memorial Drive, Savannah, Georgia 31406.
A graveside service will take place Wednesday, December 31, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens in Savannah, Georgia, with David Lemberg officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Dr. Suzanne Edenfield Scholarship Fund, c/o Savannah Technical College Foundation, or One Love Animal Rescue of Savannah, Georgia.
This Christmas, the community showed its appreciation for first responders with a special gesture of kindness. The First Responder Support Team provided breakfast to firefighters and other emergency personnel on duty, ensuring they felt supported and celebrated during the holiday season.
Volunteers gave up time with their own families to recognize the hard work and dedication of those who serve the community every day. Their generosity and thoughtfulness brought warmth and holiday spirit to first responders working through the holiday.
Acts like these highlight the power of community and the true meaning of the season—caring for others and spreading joy to those who protect and serve.
A strong cold front is moving through Northwest Louisiana, bringing gusty winds, cooler temperatures and the potential for freezing overnight lows across Caddo and Bossier parishes this week.
Monday will be mostly sunny but noticeably cooler, with highs near 48 degrees. North winds of 10 to 15 mph will continue throughout the day, with gusts up to 30 mph. Temperatures will drop Monday night under partly cloudy skies, with lows around 29 degrees and lighter north winds.
Sunny but cool conditions will persist Tuesday, with highs near 48 degrees and light northwest winds. Clear skies Tuesday night will allow temperatures to dip to around 31 degrees, creating the potential for freezing conditions.
A gradual warming trend begins midweek. Wednesday is forecast to be sunny with highs near 60 degrees, followed by mostly clear skies Wednesday night and lows around 39 degrees. New Year’s Day is expected to be mostly sunny with highs near 66 degrees.
Warmer conditions continue into the latter part of the week, with highs near 70 degrees on Friday and mostly sunny skies. Overnight lows will remain mild, generally in the lower 50s. The weekend forecast calls for sunny conditions Saturday with highs near 67 degrees, cooling slightly overnight before mostly sunny skies return Sunday with highs near 64 degrees.
With freezing temperatures expected Monday night and possibly Tuesday night, residents are encouraged to take precautions to protect homes, pets and people. Exposed pipes should be insulated or allowed to drip, and outdoor faucets should be covered. Space heaters should be used safely and never left unattended.
Pet owners are urged to bring animals indoors or ensure they have warm shelter and unfrozen water.
Drivers should also use caution during early morning hours, particularly on bridges and overpasses where slick spots may develop if temperatures drop below freezing.
Residents are encouraged to monitor local forecasts and take simple precautions to stay safe as colder weather moves through Caddo and Bossier parishes.
The Caddo Parish Animal Shelter celebrated the holiday season by ensuring the dogs in their care felt the love and warmth of Christmas. A special Christmas lunch was prepared for the dogs by one of the shelter’s board members, bringing joy and comfort to the animals during the festive season.
The day was made even more meaningful with help from the Girl Scouts of Louisiana – Pines to the Gulf, who volunteered their time to serve meals, offer gentle words, and share kindness with each dog. Their efforts highlighted the spirit of giving and compassion central to the season.
Shelter staff were also recognized for their daily dedication, providing care, food, and extra attention to the animals, especially during the holidays. The event created moments of joy and comfort for dogs still waiting for their forever homes, demonstrating the true spirit of Christmas through generosity, love, and compassion.
UPSIDE DOWN: Louisiana Tech deep snapper Ean Burch has a different view of the football field. (Photo by JOSH McDANIEL, Louisiana Tech Athletics)
By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
As the deep snapper for Louisiana Tech, Ean Burch sees things upside down. It may not be the greatest view on the football field, but it’s what puts him out there for a job that he says “no one ever notices until you screw up.”
So it’s only natural that Burch’s journey to being in this role for the Bulldogs might also be a little bit out of the ordinary.
When he was an eighth-grader, Burch probably wasn’t all that thrilled when he was informed by his parents a few years ago that he would be going to his younger sister’s soccer game on a weekend afternoon.
Desperate to do something – anything – to avoid having to watch, he grabbed a football and threw it between his legs.
“You know you can go to college doing that, right?” his father Eric told him.
“I had no idea,” Ean says now.
Though he was far more interested in playing linebacker at Loyola, he also kept practicing that skill in high school, which led to a walk-on spot at Tech.
“I never could have imagined this,” Burch says.
Even though he was an All-City linebacker for the Flyers in 2020 and twice had more than 100 tackles in a season, he knew his ticket to college football would be punched by doing something that few ever notice. But he will admit that there may have been a time or two that he missed being a linebacker.
“You know, it’s always been a dream to do something like that,” he says. “But I’m too slow and fat now. It would be fun, but I’m happy with my role. I’m happy what I’m doing, and this is a pretty important role.”
When the Bulldogs take on Coastal Carolina Tuesday in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, Burch will be the deep snapper for both punts and field goals.
Those do not require the same skill set.
“There’s a lot of nuances and technique that go into both, for sure,” Burch says. “The field goal is definitely more difficult because of the level of precision you have to have in it. Plus, you try to get the laces (facing) forward, which is another added layer on top of that.”
Yes, you read that correctly – Burch tries to snap the ball to the holder with such technique that the laces are already set in the proper position when the ball arrives in the holder’s hands.
“First, you have the manipulate the ball to get it like you want it (before the snap),” Burch says. “If I have the right spot and I snap at the same speed, and you’ll get it back there with laces (in the proper spot) a good majority of the time.”
Burch is one of only four Bulldogs who have been on the Tech roster under head coaches Skip Holtz and Sonny Cumbie. The 5-11, 205-pounder did not play in 2021, played in one game in 2022, missed a season due to a hand injury and didn’t play in 2023.
He admits it was tough during his first few years. “I always just wanted to play and, but some people it takes a little bit longer to get there,” Burch says. “I had to sit behind some good guys and that was just my path. I’m happy I stayed with it.”
Asked to describe his five years at Tech and Burch sums it up in one word: “Awesome.”
He’s hoping for even more awesomeness next year, because Burch recently received an NCAA waiver for a sixth year of eligibility because of his injury. Even though he graduated from Tech in the fall with a finance degree, he will be around for another year of being one of the most important players on the team that nobody notices.
“I think there’s a stat that if a team gets a punt blocked or a field goal blocked, there’s like a 90 percent chance you’ll lose that game,” Burch says. “And so, you always got to be on top of your game and perfect every time. I think that’s one thing people don’t really understand about long snapping.”
One of the many things you can discover by not paying attention at your younger sister’s soccer game.
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.”
In the third round of the last Shreveport-Bossier Journal Football Coaches Roundtable for 2025, local coaches were asked to share some bright prospects for next season, along with memories of the best moments from this fall.
What players or position groups showed this season they could be prime time players in 2026?
GARY COOPER, Booker T. Washington: “The offensive line group was young for us this fall. We started two sophomores at the tackle spots and two juniors inside. That group gained a lot of valuable game experience this season. They should be a great strength for our 2026 team.”
JERRY BYRD, Plain Dealing: “Ja’marion Baker-Shepard and Jerry Harris will be our key guys next season. Both will be seniors and start on both sides of the ball. Looking forward to seeing their growth both on the field and off as they lead the 2026 Lions.
GARY SMITH, Bossier: “We are excited to have 90 percent of our offense back including (quarterback) Montrevell Lewis (the first 1,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard rusher locally in 21 seasons) and four of our starting receivers.”
AUSTIN BROWN, Northwood: “We have three young safeties who made some plays this season and will have big shoes to fill in our secondary. Four offensive linemen are coming back and will be seniors, so we expect them to set a great tone.”
DENNY DURON, Evangel: “We are returning three Division 1 players in our defensive backfield next year. We are expecting great things from those guys.
“And of course, the General … Pop Houston is back for his senior year. We couldn’t be more excited.”
COY BROTHERTON, Parkway: “We return all three running backs next year. Braxxton Black will be a senior, Damian Decaldecal will be a junior and AJ Johnson will be a sophomore. All three shared the workload this year and will be very good next season.”
STACY BALLEW, Byrd: “Our offensive backfield looks really good for next season. You’re pretty good if you start with Christian Maxie, and a healthy Collin Deere will be a great addition. We had three quarterbacks who played for us, and got experience, and there’s another, Peter Santiago, who got hurt and didn’t play but I think he’s going to be pretty good.”
Can you share a ‘best moment’ memory from this season?
BROTHERTON, Parkway: “The emotions of winning a second-round playoff game (37-31 in overtime over Hahnville to reach the state quarterfinals). The tears of joy and excitement on the sideline after that game made for a moment we will all remember.”
MATTHEW SEWELL, Haughton: “Our best moment for me was against Evangel. They scored in about three plays on the opening possession. They kicked a touchback so we had to start on the 20. First play, we called a mesh concept expecting them to be in man and they came out in zone. Carter Couvillion slipped behind everyone and Taylor (Weathersby) made a great off-script throw downfield and Carter raced for an 80-yard touchdown. It was awesome. I’ve known Carter his entire life and watching him score his first varsity touchdown and doing it in that fashion was a terrific moment I’ll never forget.”
DURON, Evangel: “The best moment for me personally was running out on homecoming night against my alma mater, Captain Shreve, and seeing the huge homecoming crowd and people stacked around the fences. In 2020, we didn’t know if we would survive as a school or a team. As I ran onto the field I worshipped the Lord and said, “thank you God for restoring your little school … Thank you that it was in your heart.”
COOPER, Booker T. Washington: “The best moment was watching the kids enjoy the sendoff as we left the school for the second-round playoff game at University Lab.”
BYRD, Plain Dealing: “The best moment was every moment we had the opportunity to put the uniform on and either step out onto the field at The Den or load the bus and go represent Plain Dealing High School and the community.”
TEEING OFF: Louisiana Tech players and head coach Sonny Cumbie (at right) enjoyed an Independence Bowl outing Sunday night at Chasing Aces Golf in Bossier City. (Journal photo by KEVIN PICKENS)
JOURNAL SPORTS
The evening before the 49th Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl offers the public four free events before Tuesday’s 1 p.m. matchup between Louisiana Tech and Coastal Carolina.
The Rally on the Red from 6:30-10 tonight has events in the Louisiana Boardwalk & East Bank District of Bossier City.
The Mardi Gras Preview Parade begins the night at 6:30, flowing through the Louisiana Boardwalk and East Bank District. Following the parade’s conclusion, the two school marching bands play in a Battle of the Bands at 7:15 in the East Bank District Plaza. After the two bands duke it out, there is a fireworks show at 7:45. Culminating the night is a free concert from Parish County Line in Hurricane Alley kicking off at 8.
The parade features floats from seven local Mardi Gras krewes along with the two university bands and spirit squads. The parade ends at the East Bank Plaza.
The fireworks show will be staged behind Hurricane Alley in the East Bank District.
The big finish at 8 is afree concert from the Baton Rouge-based Parish County Line in Hurricane Alley.
The teams had outings throughout the weekend after both squads arrived Friday.
(NOTE – as the year winds to a close, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal staff is sharing a few of our favorites written during 2025. This column ran on Tax Day, Tuesday, April 15.)
Midnight matters two days a year. Welcome to the first one.
You have until a minute before 12 a.m. Wednesday to pay Uncle Sam your 2024 tax tab. Even with Elon’s IRS firings, AI will know if you’ve forked up in time, just like Santa knows if you’ve been good or bad.
It’s 260 days until the next time midnight really counts. The next one is cause for celebration – New Year’s Eve.
Tax Day can be cause to celebrate. I saw it on my first adult April 15th, many moons ago at the U.S. Post Office in Lafayette on Moss Street, a mile or so from where future Yankees legend Ron Guidry played baseball at Northside High School.
I proudly pulled in to drop off my return and drove right into a tailgating party. Those Cajuns had the Zydeco boom boxes blaring, grills fired up, and ice chests filled with fuel. It would have been rude to refuse.
Or to fail to return each of the next two Tax Days I spent in the Hub City.
Those were planned celebrations. Nothing on the scale of what we saw Sunday at Augusta National, when Rory McIlroy, America’s favorite sporting Irishman, finally finished a Masters triumph.
Two similar outbursts burned into the memory banks happened a couple of months apart in summer 1999: Braindi Chastain ripping off her jersey and falling to her knees in exultation after scoring the winning goal in the women’s World Cup final July 19 to beat China at the Rose Bowl, and on Sept. 26, the raucous USA Ryder Cup eruption after Texan Justin Leonard holed a 45-foot putt that completed a fantastic Sunday comeback by the Americans, including Shreveport’s Hal Sutton.
Years earlier, Jim McKay narrated the opening sequence for the iconic ABC’s Wide World of Sports and introduced the phrase “the thrill of victory,” immediately followed by “the agony of defeat.”
Rory has way more than his share of those miserable moments in his Masters memories. It began with his 2011 back-nine-on-Sunday collapse when he carried a four-shot lead into the final round and shot 80. He was 21. He won his first major two months later, by eight shots at the U.S. Open, and in 2012, also won by eight in dominating the PGA Championship. In 2014 he took the British Open and PGA titles and kept collecting PGA Tour victories, 28 of them, 15 more on other pro tours around the world.
But not another major. Not until Sunday evening. Not until a rollercoaster ride that added more than a few gray hairs on his temples and left all watching, at Augusta or on TV, exhausted and exhilarated whether or not you were rooting for Rory.
He’s won $100 million with more to come. His days will surely be joyful and so will those of his kids and grandkids and many more surrounding him.
But nothing will compare to April 13, 2025, when he broke through, and broke down.
He said he was eager to get home to Holywood – not the glitzy place on the Left Coast, but a community in Belfast, Northern Ireland – and his parents, Rosie and Gerry.
His dad, a scratch player at Holywood Golf Club, quickly realized his little boy had immense potential. His parents took on extra jobs to support that ambition. Gerry reportedly worked 100 hours weekly at three jobs, including cleaning toilets and showers at a local sports club in the mornings, then pulling a couple of daily bartending gigs. Rosie kept track of Rory during the day, then packaged rolls of tape at a 3M factory.
It was knowing what his “mum and dad” did to give his dreams a chance that had McIlroy speechless at times Sunday evening.
You can see Rosie and Gerry. You probably know them. You may BE them. They’re all around, at a ballpark, a gym, a golf course or tennis courts, a recital hall, a theatre, a library, a church, or perhaps, a rehab center or a juvenile facility. They are parents, grandparents, big brothers and sisters, mentors, counselors, volunteers, making extraordinary efforts to provide hope and opportunity for kids – some they love, some they barely know.
Hopefully they get to celebrate victories, many that will barely be noticed by anyone other than those involved. Still, at whatever level, it’s nice to have hope that better days could be ahead, and to be reminded that dreams do come true.
It’s easy to be happy for Rosie and Gerry, for Rory, his wife Erica, and their delightful little daughter Poppy, whose putt in Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest evoked a different type of pure glee.
Golf fans have watched McIlroy twist and turn and unabashedly reveal his competitive agonies over the past decade-plus as he’s pursued royal status in his game’s history. Now that he’s the sixth golfer, and only the second in 50 years, to capture the career Grand Slam, the chase is over and the celebration is well underway. Lift a glass.
Born September 2 1953 in Minden La passed away peacefully December 19, 2025 at 0915 in Shreveport with good friend Donna by his side.
He is preceded in death by his Parents Jesse Lee Boothe and Ruth Ava Childs Boothe; Brothers Buddy Boothe and James G Boothe Sr.
Survived by Sisters Jerry Lynn with her husband Sanford and Ava Jo; Daughter Amanda Ewald and granddaughters Britney and Briana. Family and Friends Sharon A Bodie, Cheryl Phillips,James G Boothe Jr. with his wife Anita, Chris Boothe, Lesley, Jerry, Billy Wayne Boothe, Wandra, Donna Leonard, Rick Adams, Carla Deen, Rick Gray.
Billy Ray entered into active duty with the United States Air Force on November 15 1972 and was honorably discharged on June 29 1976. During his time of service he achieved the rank of E-4 as Masonry Specialist with a secondary title of Aircraft Maintenance Specialist.
Billy loved the outdoors. He enjoyed hunting and fishing. In his spare time, he enjoyed making fishing poles, jigs and lures. Other hobbies included anything pertaining to the Civil War.
Scott Southwick Lowe died surrounded by family on December 24, 2025, after a courageous battle with brain cancer.
Scott was a Certified Public Accountant and President of Seagull Operating Company by trade, but would want to be remembered as so much more.
Scott was born in Shreveport in 1951, and his mother said from the very beginning he was “always a sweet little fella.” Despite his sweetness, Scott occasionally got into trouble. At the age of 14, fed up with field fires and petty theft, his parents informed him that he needed to get a girlfriend. He asked Ginger Hagens to a house party, and the rest was history. They attended LSU and married as college sophomores (and later often reflected-“What were we thinking?!”). They enjoyed 54 years of marriage. Scott and Ginger had two daughters, Katherine Lowe McCrary (Kevin) and Anna Lowe Weber. To his four grandchildren-Sophie and Dylan McCrary, and Lila and Charlie Weber- he was “Coo Coo,” and there were lots of love and laughs shared among them.
Scott was a man of many passions. Besides his family, Scott loved traveling to near and very far places. An avid lover and supporter of the outdoors, Scott loved camping out, hiking, and backpacking, and served as the President of the Shreveport chapter of the Sierra Club. He loved and was loved by many dogs throughout the years. He enjoyed many hunting and fishing trips to Arkansas and South Louisiana, often with his brother, Bruce. To his YMCA volleyball crew, he was known as “the Godfather.” More recently, his passions included the guitar and his jam group. He had lots of friends, who have been so kind during this hard ordeal-special thanks to his jam group, book club, All Souls Unitarian Church friends, and stock syndicate for their support.
Our family would like to thank the doctors at Willis Knighton Cancer Center for their kindness and compassion: Tyler Lash and Jake Wang. Thanks to Dr. Rick Michael and Dr. Jonathan Davis for always being there with answers to Ginger’s nervous questions. To the staff of Bristol Hospice, you were so helpful! And, especially, thanks to William Turman, of Always Best Care Sitters – always there with a smile, advice and a willingness to help in any way. Words can’t express our gratitude to you.
Scott is survived by his brother, Bruce Lowe and his mother, Sheila Southwick Lowe. The family will hold a private service. In lieu of flowers, please send any donations to the James Burton Foundation (714 Elvis Presley Avenue, Shreveport Louisiana, 71101), which supports music education for those in need through guitar donations and music instruction to schools, hospitals, and community organizations.
JOLLY ELF: Santa Claus has a magical presence for children all over the world during the Christmas season. (Journal photo by KEVIN SHANAHAN)
It’s our role as journalists to discover news, but we can’t claim that we knew before everybody else that President Trump would declare today and Friday as federal holidays, bookending Christmas Day.
He signed that executive order Dec. 18, which is about the time Journal management decided to give our team an extended Christmas break.
The Shreveport-Bossier Journal will not publish on Christmas Day or on Friday, giving our crew time to enjoy three weekdays with family and friends.
We will be back Monday morning with all our normal content on our website, our Facebook page, and in our regular 6:55 email to all our subscribers – absolutely free, as always.
Count on coverage of LSU football’s game Saturday in the Texas Bowl, and a look ahead to Tuesday’s Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl matching Louisiana Tech against Coastal Carolina.
We don’t have pop-ups or log-ins. You have quick, easy, free access to all content for every Journal published locally and across north and central Louisiana.
We wish you and yours a wonderful, joyous Christmas celebration – with Santa Claus bringing excitement for children, while we reflect on the ultimate miracle of the birth of Jesus Christ and His life on Earth.
At unquestionably the biggest nighttime church service of the year, with proud moms and great aunts and uncles tucked in tight to see cute children take part in the symbolic Christmas ceremony, a granddad fumbled the mistletoe ball.
Literally in front of God and everybody.
“The fan mail continues to come in,” he said in mid-week after that traumatic Sunday night. “It’s nice to be noticed again. I’m surprised it wasn’t ‘Play of the Day’ on ESPN.”
He’s accepted the electronic waves of mail and the face-to-face snickers with the guarded good cheer of a man who stepped over the edge — and lived to be ridiculed about it.
“This is the gift that will keep on giving,” he said, “right on through the new year.”
It happened during the Hanging of the Greens, a traditional service in which every branch and bough hung has seasonal meaning. Cedar represents royalty, fir and pine represent everlasting life, holly for resurrection, mistletoe for … sin? I’m not sure. But this is what happened.
The children go all over the church putting up wreaths and boughs at predetermined times. The organist plays. The congregation or choir or soloist sings. At some point, a fashioned orb of mistletoe the size of two basketballs and with a hook attached is lifted by a human holding a hooked stick and placed on a high hook in the sanctuary.
When you’re dealing with that many hooks and a human and a stick and a somber audience, you’re dealing with liturgical dynamite.
Dressed in his holiday finest, my guy (to use his name would be indiscreet; we’ll just call him Pat) had practiced before the gig. Hung it right up. But as he sat in the congregation preparing for The Hanging, the hook appeared smaller. And higher. And the stick looked to weigh roughly the same as your average load of pulpwood.
But the show must go on.
And it was time.
He secured the mistletoe ball on the stick. Heaved it skyward. Arms began trembling. He zeroed in on the hook. It bobbed and weaved. He glanced over his shoulder toward his precious wife of 50 years, who seemed to say with her eyes, “Please! While we’re young!”
He got it! The hooks hooked! But only a bit. And as he brought the stick down, well, the mistletoe ball … she fell. To Pat (not his real name, probably), it happened in slow motion. The ball seemed to fall in sections. Took a calendar day for the thing to hit the ground, which it did with a soft splat. Of course to Pat, it sounded a clothes washing machine, while running, had just been dropped out a fifth-story window.
It was all about pride at this point. Again he went in, with the stick, and hooked the ball. (What I’ve imagined is a guy trying to land a marlin, only in reverse.) He pointed the stick and the unruly mistletoe ball skyward, took aim, and after a few more agonizing eternities, she hooked. She hooked! Lord have mercy, securely, she hooked.
The children, lined in back and paying more attention in church than at any time previous in their entire lives, paused, eyes on the ball, just to make sure. And when she’d held for five seconds and then 10, and the end of the torment was assured, they actually burst into cheer. They cheered in church!
Pat sat. He did what he always does in times of distress: he looked upward. The center held. It was finished.
But not without a price. “The only other greens I’ll ever hang again,” he said, “will be turnips.”
City of Shreveport offices will be closed in observance of Christmas on Thursday, December 25, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025, and for New Year’s on Thursday, January 1, and Friday, January 2, 2026. Residents and businesses are encouraged to plan accordingly for city services during these periods.
Revenue Payment Options While Offices Are Closed: Mail: Send checks payable to COS-AV-TAX to PO Box 30040, Shreveport, LA 71130. Do not include cash, staples, or paper clips. Drop Box: Located at 505 Travis Street (near the ATM), for checks and monetary instruments only. Do not place cash in the box. Online: Payments can be made online at https://buff.ly/3UJ4M4q.
All payments made by January 16, 2026, will be considered timely and will not incur penalties.
Christmas Garbage Collection Schedule (Week of December 22–26, 2025): Monday, Dec. 22: Monday collection will not change. Tuesday, Dec. 23: Tuesday collection will not change. Wednesday, Dec. 24: Thursday’s garbage will be collected. Thursday, Dec. 25: No garbage collection. Friday, Dec. 26: Friday collection will not change.
No bulk collections will take place during this week, and the Woolworth Road Regional Solid Waste Facility will be closed on December 25, 2025.
Residents are encouraged to plan ahead to ensure timely payments and proper waste collection during the holiday period.
The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office will be accepting property tax payments at two locations on Saturday, Dec. 27. Payments will be accepted from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Citizens can pay their property taxes at either of the following locations:
1. Sheriff’s Safety Town 8910 Jewella Avenue Shreveport, LA 71118
2. Caddo Parish Sheriff’s North Substation 11411 LA-1 Oil City, LA 71061
We will accept checks, money orders, and credit cards at both locations. Please note that a fee will be applied to credit card transactions.
Citizens may also pay their taxes in person, by mail (including the account number with the check or money order), or through Bill Pay without a convenience fee. Payments that incur a convenience fee can be made by phone at 833-538-8539, online at http://www.caddosheriff.org, or through the CPSO Tax Department App.
Much of my Christmas nostalgia is wrapped in the glow of those big, old fashioned colored bulbs—the ones that could heat a small apartment—and the shimmering glory of an aluminum Christmas tree spinning under a color wheel. I was a child of the 60s, after all. Only in that decade could a tree made of tinsel, decorated with blue ornaments, and illuminated by absolutely no lights of its own be considered the height of holiday sophistication. And you know what? I loved it. Those memories still shine for me, even if a few of them come with some spiritual scar tissue.
I grew up in a sprawling extended family. My dad was an only child, but he came from a clan that reproduced cousins the way Louisiana reproduces mosquitoes—by the thousands and without apology. Every Christmas we gathered at my greatgrandmother’s house for the annual cousin gift exchange. Names were drawn at Thanksgiving, rules were followed, and gifts were opened with military precision.
It was Christmas 1968—easy to remember, because I’d been up half the night watching Apollo 8 circle the moon. Humanity was reaching for the heavens… and meanwhile, down on Earth, my cousin Wally was plotting a lunar landing of his own. On my gift.
I opened that widget—my widget, given to me by my greatgrandmother herself. I can still point to the exact spot on the floor where I sat when I unwrapped it. But somewhere between that moment of joy and the time we loaded up the car, the widget vanished. Gone. Disappeared. Beamed up, perhaps, by Cousin Wally, who boldly claimed it was his. It was not. I knew it then, and I know it now. Wally took it. That rat.
And ever since that fateful day, I have developed a Christmas quirk. If you give me a gift, I will—without hesitation, without shame, without regard for weather conditions—march it straight to my car. I have been known to sprint through a downpour like a shepherd chasing a runaway sheep, all to protect a tin of cookies or a festive mug. My family knows this about me. My church knows this about me. I know this about me. And honestly, it makes me laugh every time I do it, because I can still see Wally’s face in 1968, claiming my widget like he was planting a flag on the moon.
Have you ever had something stolen? It’s funny how one small childhood moment can linger in the corners of your heart. Part of me still fears losing a gift, even though I know that fear is completely out of step with what Christmas is really about. Christmas isn’t about the presents under the tree—or the ones your cousin swipes when you’re not looking. Christmas is about a relationship with Jesus.
God sent His Son into the world so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. Jesus is the gift that cannot be misplaced, stolen, regifted, or claimed by Cousin Wally. He is yours, forever.
My prayer is that you experience the love of Jesus every day of your life.
Merry Christmas!
Doug de Graffenried is the Senior Pastor of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, Louisiana. You can reach Doug at his email: DougDeGraffenried
Before we can get around to fixing the college football playoff structure, let’s start at the bottom and work our way up.
The very bottom.
We all know how inane the questions are that get asked by sideline reporters before games, during games and after games. The next time something of significance comes out of these probing interviews will be the first time.
So it should come as no surprise that these frivolous questions bring about a never-ending series of mesmerizing answers.
Moments before Miami was to take on Texas A&M Saturday in a CFP quarterfinal game, we got a chance to hear from Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal, who was asked what the key to the game was going to be.
“We just have to play Miami football,” Cristobal said before immediately departing.
Of course! Miami football!
In case anybody thought that they might play Ohio State football or USC football, those fears were alleviated.
By the way, what happens if North Texas decides to play Miami football in the New Mexico Bowl? Do people get their money back?
And what if Miami plays Miami of Ohio football? Does that suffice?
It’s always been obvious that these on-the-fly interviews have zero redeeming value and there’s an easy way to solve the problem.
Eliminate them.
There … that was easy. Now let’s move to the top of the CFP food chain where there also seems to be an easier solution that more people agree on than simply wanting Miami to play Miami football.
Last year, the uproar was over the seeding process, which landed first-round byes for Boise State and Arizona State. The ridiculousness of that quickly became evident, so the CFP powers that be did a quick end-around faster than you can say “Miami football” and changed it up for this season.
But all that did was trade one problem for another.
There’s no need to go over the convoluted reasons why Tulane and James Madison got into the playoff and Notre Dame, Texas et al. didn’t, but it quickly became evident that both were non-competitive in their first-round games. (And keep this in mind – had they not changed the process from last year, Tulane would have been the No. 4 seed. Yuk.)
Here’s a concept even more novel than Miami playing Miami football – and one that has the overwhelming support of the college football public. How about putting the best teams in the playoffs?
Doesn’t matter how many there are. If it’s 12 teams, then the best 12. You want to go to 16 teams? Go right ahead and fill those spots with the best 16.
It’s as simple as Miami playing Miami football.
No automatic bids (have a seat SEC and Big 10).
No memorandums of understanding (sorry Notre Dame).
No “play-in” games, as the Big 10 commissioner has suggested in an obvious muscle-flexing move.
Choose it however you’d like – computers, humans or some combination thereof – and let the chips fall. If a Group of 5 school makes it on their own ball, then welcome to the party. If three of them qualify, y’all come on and gitcha sum.
As somebody has said, college football is great, no matter how much they try to screw it up. That’s what’s happening here; the power brokers are so determined to wallow in their own self-importance that they fail to see the obvious.
By the way, everyone also seems to love playing at campus sites in the opening round. How about a little more of that?
See how easy this is!
How about somebody/entity just step up and doing what’s easiest – and best – for college football? Then we can get back to seeing if Miami can play Miami football.
AMONG THE SPECTATORS: Injured senior QB Garrett Nussmeier is among 10 LSU starters who will not play Saturday in the Texas Bowl against Houston. (Photo courtesy LSU Athletics)
By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
HOUSTON – Thirty-six wins, 16 losses, one Heisman Trophy winner, no College Football Playoff appearances and a $51 million buyout of a fired head coach later, LSU finds itself on Saturday in the exact place it was in the 2021 postseason.
Same consolation prize bowl.
Same stadium.
Led by interim head coach.
Unranked.
And mostly unloved by a fan base more excited about what’s ahead with a newly hired head coach rather than staring in the rearview mirror at massive disappointments and unfulfilled expectations.
The last remnants of the Brian Kelly error . . .uh. . .era of LSU football takes the field here Saturday night at 8:15 when the Tigers (7-5) face hometown host No. 21 Houston (9-3) in the 20th annual Kinder’s Texas Bowl in NRG Stadium.
While it’s not quite the dire situation that 7-point underdog LSU faced in its 42-20 2021 Texas Bowl loss to Kansas State when interim coach Brad Davis had just 38 scholarship players remaining from previous head coach Ed Orgeron’s regime, it’s still an uphill climb for current Tigers’ interim Frank Wilson.
Due to injuries and opt-outs, the Tigers will be missing 10 starters, including six on defense led by unanimous first-team All-American cornerback Mansoor Delane (injured) and the starting linebacking trio of Whit Weeks (injured) and opt-outs West Weeks and Harold Perkins Jr.
The Tigers also have three reserves participating – offensive tackle Carius Curne, running back Ju’Juan Johnson and defensive lineman Ahmad Breaux – who have already entered the transfer portal.
While new coach Lane Kiffin retained defensive coordinator Blake Baker and three assistants, none of the offensive assistants (including Wilson) have been asked to return.
Wilson’s next coaching gig after the Texas Bowl is Ole Miss. He was hired by new head coach Pete Golding last week, replacing running backs coach Kevin Smith, one of five Rebels’ offensive coaches under Kiffin moving to LSU.
Meanwhile, Wilson has instilled an attitude that any scheduled game is worth playing. He said he knew of no discussion involving LSU declining a bowl bid, which is something the SEC doesn’t permit its members.
“It’s important to finish what we started,” said Wilson, who’s 2-2 as the interim since Kelly was fired Oct. 26 after the Tigers lost 49-25 at home to Texas A&M. “It’s something that they (the players) wanted. It’s something that we as a university wanted to do to complete the season and to send these seniors out the right way with an opportunity for victory as they conclude their careers here at LSU. That’s a forever thing for us. We’re excited about the opportunity to finish the season the right way.”
LSU will be missing only three offensive starters, which is not necessarily a good thing. It is at the end of one of its historically worst offensive seasons in history.
The Tigers rank 106th nationally in scoring offense (21.8 points per game), 108th in total offense (332.7 yards per game), 120th in rushing offense (106.2 ypg), and 93rd in red zone offense (20 TDs and 33 field goals in 41 opportunities).
A combination of erstwhile Heisman Trophy candidate Garrett Nussmeier being hurt all season with an unspecified upper torso injury and a vastly underperforming offensive line kept the Tigers from scoring more than 25 points in any game against their 11 FBS opponents.
For Houston, this bowl is a home game. Houston’s campus is 6 ½ miles from NRG Stadium. The school sold out its allotment of bowl tickets in two days.
Houston head coach Willie Fritz, in his second season with the Cougars after eight years at Tulane, doesn’t sound overly concerned about LSU.
“They’re a big team and a really talented squad,” Fritz said earlier this week. “They’ve been a top 10 recruiting class last three, four or five years, so obviously, they’ve got a lot of very good players.”
LSU’s strength – its defense that’s ranked 18th nationally in scoring defense (18.33 pgg, better than half of the 12 College Football Playoff teams) – is drastically weakened by the M.I.A. players not playing Saturday.
Houston, which averages 28.3 points and 390.9 yards, is not exactly an offensive juggernaut.
But the Cougars have their share of playmakers led by former Texas A&M starting quarterback Conner Weigman, who started 13 games in an injury-plagued Aggies career in which he lost his starting job late last season to Marcel Reed.
As a freshman starter in 2022 vs. LSU, he threw for 155 yards and two TDs and ran for 21 yards in a 38-23 regular-season closing home win over the then-No. 6 Tigers in Kelly’s first season.
Weigman’s transfer to Houston has re-energized his career.
This season, he’s passed for 2,475 yards and 21 TDs, rushed for 644 yards and 11 TDs, and averaged 259.9 total offense yards. He’s the only Power 4 conference QB with 20+ passing TDs and 10+ rushing TDs.
The redshirt junior dual-threat passer threw a touchdown and rushed for a touchdown in seven games this season and eclipsed the 5,000 career passing yards mark.
All-Big 12 first team honorees wide receiver Amare Thomas and tight end Tanner Koziol have combined for 124 catches for 1,517 yards and 15 TDs.
Thomas finished second in the Big 12 with 10 receiving touchdowns and 906 receiving yards, both the most by a Cougar since 2022. Koziol led all tight ends nationally with 65 catches and finished second in the league with 651 receiving yards, both the most by a Cougar tight end since 2008.
Last game for Cougars: Houston quarterback Connor Weigman threw for 201 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 121 yards and two more scores to lead UH to a 31-24 home win over Baylor inside McLane Stadium on Nov. 29.
Series record and last meeting: LSU leads 2-1. The Tigers won the last meeting in Baton Rouge, 28-13, in Nick Saban’s second game as LSU’s head coach in 2000.
Houston head coach: Willie Fritz (260-132-1 in 33 years overall and 13-11 in two seasons at Houston).
THIS AND THAT
Early betting line: Houston favored by 3 points.
Betting tip: LSU has covered the spread in 8 of its last 11 bowls including 7-3 as the favorite and 1-0 as the underdog.
Number of Louisiana natives on Houston roster: 8
Number of Texas natives on LSU roster: 14
Number of transfers on Houston roster from 4-year schools: 47 players from 37 schools.
HOUSTON PLAYERS TO WATCH
QB Connor Weigman (204 of 319 for 2,475 passing yards, 21 TDs, 9 interceptions and 644 rushing yards and 11 TDs on 158 carries), RB Dean Connors (851 rushing yards and 5 TDs on 184 carries), WR Amare Jackson (59 catches for 906 yards, 10 TDs), TE Tanner Koziol (65 catches for 651 receiving yards, 10 TDs), DL Carlos Allen Jr. (75 tackles, 7 TFL), DL Eddie Walls III (56 tackles, 9 TFL, 5½ sacks, 9 QB hurries), CB Will James (32 tackles, 6 PBU, 3 interceptions), PK Ethan Sanchez (20 of 25 field goals, 38 of 38 extra points), P Liam Dougherty (50 for 44.3 ypp, 8 touchbacks, 19 fair catches, 18 inside the 20-yard line).
DID YOU KNOW. . .
Houston had all but signed Galveston Ball High running back Charles Alexander in 1975 when LSU assistant coach Jerry Stovall swooped in and signed him. Alexander, who had his jersey retired this past season, is LSU’s third all-time rushing leader with 4,035 yards.
