How some of the young guns fared in first real action

Looking at the young guns and how they played for LSU.

This story has been beaten like a drum at this point, but LSU’s roster situation against Kansas State was not good. Most of LSU’s main contributors were not available. LSU had to reach pretty far down the depth chart to find guys to play. This meant LSU was getting their first real look at some young guys in-game action.

Multiple players had barely played all year but found themselves getting a heavy workload in the bowl game. How much can be taken away from how they played is hard to say at this point. It was a weird, weird situation.

By the time next season rolls around, the way anyone played in this game won’t have any effect on who is in and who is out. They were probably nothing more than pre-seasons reps if you will. But in this sport, any experience is good experience, and hopefully, those reps serve these guys well as they head into 2022.

One of the few reasons this game was interesting was because it would be the first time fans got to see a lot of these guys. So now that it is over, let us take a look at how they fared.

First, a look at a young cornerback

WATCH: Jontre Kirklin finds Jaray Jenkins for the touchdown

Kirklin able to find Jenkins for the score.

It hasn’t been pretty for the LSU Tigers in the Texas Bowl. After the first two drives resulted in just six plays and an interception by Jontre Kirklin, the Bayou Bengals found themselves down 21-0 late in the second quarter.

The offense finally was able to find a little bit of traction after starting the drive from their own 10-yard line. Kirklin and the offense were able to get a little bit of momentum on that side of the ball.

Facing a second and 15 from the 23-yard line, the Tigers finally broke through on the scoreboard. Kirklin was able to find a fellow wide receiver Jaray Jenkins in the endzone for the first LSU score of the night. That narrowed the lead to just 14 points.

The Tigers will get the ball to start the second half. If they can find a way to get another score, we could have ourselves a ballgame. Their defense needs to find a way to either get off the field or create turnovers for the offense.

Through one half of play, the Kirklin has 61 yards of offense with the lone touchdown.

Texas Bowl: LSU vs. Kansas State live stream, TV channel, time, how to watch

The LSU Tigers will meet the Kansas State Wildcats in the Texas Bowl on Tuesday night from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The LSU Tigers will meet the Kansas State Wildcats in the Texas Bowl on Tuesday night from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

LSU comes into tonight’s bowl matchup on a winning note, they knocked off No. 23 Texas A&M 27-24 in their last game. They will be without some key players tonight but will be gunning for a win. As for Kansas State, they finished the season with two back-to-back losses to Baylor and Texas and will look to rebound this evening.

Tune in to the Texas Bowl tonight, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

LSU vs. Kansas State

  • When: Friday, December 31
  • Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

How to watch College Football Bowl Season

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NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

LSU vs. Kansas State (-7.5)

O/U: 47.5

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LSU vs Kansas State: Expert picks and Texas Bowl predictions

Does anyone dare take LSU in this one?

The final LSU Tigers football game of the 2021 campaign. After weeks of preparing for the Kansas State Wildcats, game day has arrived.

Interim head coach Brad Davis will lead a short-staffed and depleted roster onto the field before handing the reigns over to new head coach Brian Davis. The team won’t have a scholarship quarterback for this game and will be without a plethora of starters on the defensive side of the ball.

Of the team’s 22 starters from the first game, 15 are gone. It is time to rush in a new era of LSU football. The team has their hands full tonight with running back Deuce Vaughn and quarterback Skylar Thompson.

We provide our predictions for the game.

LSU vs Kansas State: Five reasons for Tigers optimism in the Texas Bowl

How do the Tigers come away with a win?

Just one more day until the LSU Tigers finally takes the field against the Kansas State Wildcats in the final non-championship bowl game of the 2021 campaign.

The team comes limping in with a very depleted roster, but it is ample opportunity for a lot of the younger players to see the field. While the offensive will likely be mostly the same group they expected to start the season with, the other positions have a little different feel to them.

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The Tigers look to finish with a high note as they prepare for a new era of LSU football. Sitting at 6-6, they can either finish with a winning record or a losing one for the first time since 1999.

We will stick to the former here with five reasons the team finds a way to win in Houston.

LSU vs Kansas State: Mercari Texas Bowl Prediction, Game Preview

LSU vs Kansas State: Mercari Texas Bowl Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might or might not win.

LSU vs Kansas State: Mercari Texas Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch, Tuesday, January 4 


LSU vs Kansas State: Mercari Texas Bowl How To Watch

Date: Tuesday, January 4
Game Time: 9:00 pm ET
Venue: NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
How To Watch: ESPN, Live stream on ESPN+
Records: Kansas State (7-5), LSU (6-6)
CFN Predictions | Bowl Results

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LSU vs Kansas State Mercari Texas Bowl Preview

It’s the last game before the College Football Playoff National Championship, and it’s going to be … interesting.

The Brian Kelly era isn’t starting yet – offensive line coach Brad Davis will take over for the game, becoming the first African-American head football coach at LSU. He’s going to bring the energy and the commitment, but a slew of starters are questionable.

Already out is quarterback Max Johnson – he’s transferring – leaving the Tigers with a big problem. There aren’t a lot of great options for the job without costing Garrett Nussmeier a year of eligibility.

The offense has to hope for the ground game to take over early and for the defense to do just enough to keep this close against an inconsistent Kansas State attack.

Kansas State didn’t have much of a passing game over the last few games of the season and failed to get to 300 total yards in any of them.

However, the defense is good at keeping games close, the pass rush should be good enough to bother whoever is under center for the Tigers, and this isn’t going to be a high-scoring shootout.

Both defensive lines should dictate the action, and it should come doesn’t to who makes the biggest mistakes.

Why LSU, Kansas State Will Win
Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
Mercari Texas Bowl Top Players To Know
Experts Pick: Texas Bowl, Kansas State vs LSU

NEXT: Why LSU Will Win, Why Kansas State Will Win, Mercari Texas Bowl Prediction

LSU vs KSU: Previewing the running backs the Texas Bowl

Can the LSU defense contain Deuce Vaughn?

With the uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position, we could see plenty of action on the ground in this game. The Kansas State offense features one of the best backs in the country, Deuce Vaughn. Don’t let his size fool you, he plays much bigger than his 5’6″ stature.

The Wildcats also use his backup, Joe Ervin, to some extent, both averaged over five yards per touch this year. The Tigers counter with Tyrion Davis-Price and freshman Corey Kiner. Much like the quarterback injuries for Kansas State, LSU had those issues with their running backs staying healthy. Also missing their top weapon in John Emery Jr hasn’t helped one bit.

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We preview the running backs for this game:

Running Back Comparison

Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Breaking down who has the edge in the tale of the tape.

Vaughn vs Davis-Price
5-6 Ht 6-1
173 Wt 232
Sophomore Class Junior
214 Att 211
1,246 Yards 1,004
5.8 YPA 4.8
582 YAC 591
15 TDs 6
43 Missed Tackles Forced 36

Edge: Deuce Vaughn

As a runner the edge goes to Vaughn, he has been a consistent threat for the Kansas State Wildcats all season. He was also named as an All-American as an all-purpose back. His ability to create offense on the ground has been a big boost to the KSU offense that had a revolving door at quarterback due to injury.

Vaughn also gets the edge over Davis-Price in the receiving game. TDP caught just 10 passes all season while Vaughn hauled in 47 passes at 10 yards per catch. He totaled 18 touchdowns this year for the Wildcats. For reference, the top three players on LSU’s roster combined for 20 touchdowns.

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Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PatrickConnCFB

LSU vs KSU: Previewing the quarterback battle for the Texas Bowl

Not much of a quarterback battle

We have officially made it to game week as the Texas Bowl between LSU and Kansas State is set to kick off one week from Tuesday. The battle of two teams that wear purple but they are on different trajectories at this point.

Kansas State has two quarterbacks with starting experience, LSU has none. Myles Brennan started three games a year ago before an injury ended his campaign, he likely is unavailable for this game. Where will the team turn?

While we await the decision on Garrett Nussmeier’s waiver, we look at the quarterback matchup for the Texas Bowl.

Quarterback Comparison

Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Breaking down who has the edge in the tale of the tape.

Thompson vs Nussmeier
6-2 Ht 6-2
223 Wt 172
Senior Class Freshman
141 Comp 29
205 Att 57
68.8 Comp % 50.9
1,844 Yards 329
9.0 YPA 5.8
9-4 TD-INT 2-2

Edge: Skylar Thompson

This really wasn’t much of a competition in the quarterback’s tale of the tape. Nussmeier just hasn’t played much and quite frankly the Tigers don’t have much in terms of experience at quarterback with Max Johnson’s transfer to Texas A&M. Thompson hasn’t been healthy but when he is, he can make the Kansas State offense go along with Deuce Vaughn.

It isn’t for certain if Nuss even plays in this game as we are still waiting on the waiver decision from the NCAA. If granted, he would likely start in the game against Kansas State. If not we could see Matt O’Dowd or even Jontre Kirklin as the signal-caller for this game.

Whichever way they go, expect a heavy dose of the run game to try and protect the quarterback in this one.

LSU has a small number of scholarship players for the Texas Bowl

Not great Bob.

The college football world has seen two teams opt-out of bowl games due to a lack of players through the transfer portal and COVID-19 testing. The Hawaii Bowl was canceled 24 hours before the game due to Hawaii not having enough players. The Rutger Scarlet Knights replaced Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl due to a lack of players, allegedly.

When it comes to the Texas Bowl and the LSU Tigers, they have a small number of scholarship players for their game. Former national championship-winning running back Jacob Hester stated the Tigers have just 51 scholarship players for the game. That includes the quarterback situation.

After Max Johnson transferred the Tigers applied for a waiver with the NCAA to allow freshman quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to play in the game and keep his redshirt status. If it doesn’t go through the team will have to rely on a walk-on quarterback with either Matt O’Dowd or Savion Faulk. Not the best situation but that is the hand that has been dealt.

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Myles Brennan recently pulled his name out of the transfer portal after a discussion with new head coach Brian Kelly. It is unclear whether or not Brennan is healthy enough to play in this game. He underwent surgery to repair his broken arm, which he suffered a day before fall camp opened in August.

LSU still has over a week before they face off with the Kansas State Wildcats in Houston. We will monitor the roster situation and pass along updates as they are provided.

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Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PatrickConnCFB

Bowl Projections: LSU to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl?

Let’s go bowling folks…

Are the Bayou Bengals a team that could be bowl-bound following the season finale on Saturday?

According to the latest projections from Erick Smith of USA TODAY Sports still projects the LSU Tigers to compete in bowl season. In the bowl projections released on Tuesday, the Tigers could face another team in purple.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

LSU vs Kansas State

Clearly, Smith feels confident that the Tigers football team can get bowl eligible this week against the Texas A&M Aggies. Or it could be that LSU gets selected due to not having enough teams to fill the bowl allotment.

The complete postseason picture appears to be clarifying, too. There are 72 teams already with the requisite six wins needed to qualify for a bowl game. Four games this weekend will match 5-6 teams. That means six other 5-6 teams need to win before we get to the point of losing teams getting selected.

This would be a matchup with a very small sample size in the series history between the two teams. LSU and Kansas State played in Baton Rouge during the 1980 season. The Tigers won 21-0.

The Wildcats are the complete opposite of the Tigers with how they have performed over the last month-plus. Kansas State has won four of their last five games to improve to 7-4. LSU has lost five of their last seven games since the calendar turned to October.