LSU Athletic Communications
BATON ROUGE – LSU will face Baylor in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl in Houston, the Southeastern Conference announced on Sunday.
Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve at NRG Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.
It will be the first meeting between LSU and Baylor on the gridiron since the 1985 Liberty Bowl. LSU leads the overall series with the Bears, 8-3.
The Tigers, winners of their last two games, stand at 8-4 overall after closing the regular-season with victories over Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. LSU is making its third bowl appearance under head coach Brian Kelly, who has guided the Tigers to a 28-11 mark since taking over the program in 2022.
LSU is 2-0 in bowl games under Kelly, beating Iowa, 63-7, in the Citrus Bowl in 2022 followed by a 35-31 win over Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl last year.
The Tigers bring one of the nation’s most explosive passing offenses into the game led by junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who has thrown for 3,735 yards and 26 touchdowns. Nussmeier’s 312 completions this year leads the SEC and ranks No. 2 all-time in LSU history, while his 3,735 passing yards rank No. 2 in the league and third in school history.
Baylor, coached by former LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, has won six straight and brings an 8-4 mark into the contest. The Bears tied for second in the Big 12 with a 6-3 league mark. Baylor’s 6-game winning streak ranks as the fifth-longest active streak in the FBS, behind only Oregon (14), Boise State (14), Notre Dame (10) and Marshall (7).
LSU and Baylor have met in bowl games on two other occasions – the 1963 Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston and the 1985 Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Baylor won both of those games.
This will be LSU’s third appearance in the Texas Bowl. The Tigers beat Texas Tech and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, 56-27, in the 2015 Texas Bowl before dropping a 42-20 decision to Kansas State to cap the 2021 season.