Tag: Texas Bowl

Former LSU RB Darrel Williams weighed in on Tigers’ bowl effort

Former LSU running back was ‘proud’ of the Tigers’ bowl effort.

On Wednesday current Kansas City Chiefs running back and former LSU Tiger, Darrel Williams met with the media. They are preparing for their season finale against division rival Denver this weekend.

Currently, they hold the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff picture but a win plus a loss by Tennessee would give them the top seed. Williams has an opportunity to reach a milestone in the game against the Broncos. With just 37 yards on the ground and/or through the air, he will reach 1,000 yards from scrimmage. As far as the Texas Bowl was concerned, Williams was set to watch the game with a teammate and former Kansas State wide receiver Byron Pringle.

“I was supposed to go to Byron’s (Pringle) house and watch the game, but I didn’t,” Williams said. “We had a little struggle, we had our receiver playing quarterback. But I just like how those guys (LSU) came together as a team and they fought for each other. No matter what it was, what the situation was, they were all in together. They were willing to put whatever they needed to do on the line for the team. I’m proud of those guys.”

Williams was part of the team that went to the Texas Bowl in 2015 when they defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He carried the ball just twice in that game but one of those went for a touchdown. Williams was the backup to starting running back Leonard Fournette.

For more information on Williams’ pursuit of the 1,000-yard milestone and the game this weekend, check out our colleagues at the Chiefs Wire. 

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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

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Texas Bowl: Handing out game balls for LSU and Kansas State

Which players stood out in the Texas Bowl?

The LSU Tigers football team never had a chance; Kansas State beat them 42-20 in the Texas bowl. LSU was missing a lot of players due to many reasons and could not overcome it. Now the Brian Kelly Era will begin. Here are the players of the game of both teams; it was hard choosing for LSU. 

Game balls

LSU

Jontre Kirklin, a receiver, was thrown in the quarterback position in the Bowl game. Kirklin passed for 138 yards, three touchdowns, including an 81-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hilton Jr. to end the game. Kirklin also threw two interceptions. All night, Kirklin was throwing the ball up for grabs, and LSU receivers came down with the ball a few times. Kirklin also rushed for 61 yards, giving him 199 total yards for the game.

Defensive back Pig Cage had six tackles, three TFLs, and one sack. He played well Tigers, it’s pretty amazing that a defensive back has three tackles for a loss.

Kansas State

Quarterback Skylar Thompson passed for 259 yards and three touchdowns. Thompson was under pressure early in the game but scrambled and was able to find open receivers down the field. He completed 75% of his passes and had a 188.1 passer rating. 

LSU’s defense did an ok job holding Deuce Vaughn in check to start the game, but as the game went on, Vaughn got it going. He finished with 146 yards in 21 carries and three touchdowns. His long was 48 yards, and Vaughn averaged seven yards per rush.

Instant Analysis: Five takeaways from LSU’s loss to Kansas State

Instant takeaways from the 42-20 loss in the Texas Bowl.

What was a ugly season for LSU came to an ugly end Tuesday night in the Texas Bowl.

Kansas State jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. It was not a good night for LSU in any phase of the game.

But to be fair, with all the roster issues LSU is experiencing, nobody expected it would be. The offense never found any rhythm, the defense couldn’t get off the field, and even special teams gave up some big returns.

On the other side, Kansas State had it clicking. Quarterback Skylar Thompson had one of the best games of his career and running back Deuce Vaughn once again went over 100 yards. On defense, Kansas State was able to force some turnovers that set up a couple scores as well.

It wasn’t just LSU’s roster that was shorthanded, but their coaching staff was too. LSU had to rely on analysts and graduate assistants to have a full staff in Houston tonight.

In a lot of ways, this was an end of an era for LSU as they will now try and put a lot of the ugliness of the last two years behind them. Next time they take the field, they will be led by Brian Kelly.

For now, let’s take a look at some takeaway’s from tonight’s loss.

Brian Kelly: ‘I’m from Boston – we don’t have strong accents’

“I’m from Boston. We don’t have strong accents.” – Brian Kelly

Ask anyone from the United States which city or region has the most distinct accent of any and in little to no time Boston is certain to be mentioned.

Brian Kelly was at LSU’s game in the Texas Bowl on Tuesday night and was interviewed during the game by the ESPN commentators.  He was asked about the accent he debuted when speaking at the LSU basketball game in early December and blamed the lack of accents by Bostonians as the recent he couldn’t say “family” properly.

He’s got to be being sarcastic, right?  Him saying it with such a straight face makes it seem like he’s being serious, though.

I don’t know his seriousness or lack-thereof but saying people from Boston don’t have accents is about as absurd as saying Chicagoans have nothing wrong with putting ketchup on a hot dog.

Related:

Brian Kelly gets roasted for his sudden southern accent

Brian Kelly through the years at Notre Dame

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

fuboTV has complete NCAA college football coverage (CBS, FOX, ESPN) as well as ACC Network, Big 10 Network, ESPNU, Pac12, and more. fuboTV includes every network you need to watch every college football game in your market.
fuboTV is available on your phone, tablet, desktop, TV, connected TV Devices including Roku. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV plus many more.
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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 History: The lone matchup in the series

LSU and Kansas State last met on the Bayou in 1980

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When LSU takes the field against Kansas State on Tuesday night, it will only be the second time in the history of the sport that has happened.

These two squads haven’t met in over 40 years, with the first and last time coming on September 13, 1980.

It was just Jerry Stovall’s second game as LSU’s head coach after losing 16-0 to Bobby Bowden’s No. 13 ranked Florida State the week before.

Kansas State was led by head coach Jim Dickey, still about 10 years away from when Bill Snyder would eventually take over the program.

The quarterback for LSU was sophomore Alan Risher in his first year as the starter. In this game, he was 10-12 for 94 yards, adding a touchdown on top of that. Risher had some success on the ground too, running for 51 yards.

Kansas State had a coach’s son at quarterback. Darrell Dickey, who was 10 of 17 for 134 yards. It wasn’t enough to get on the scoreboard though, as LSU shut out Kansas State to get the 16-0 win.

It was the first game Stovall ever coached in Tiger Stadium and the first win of his career. LSU went on to finish season 7-4 but declined an invitation to the Peach Bowl because much like they are today, they were dealing with a lot of injury issues.

Stovall didn’t go on to have much success at LSU as a coach. He had a great career as a player, but his contract was bought out following the 1983 season.

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.

Five things we might learn from LSU in the Texas Bowl

Can we learn anything from the Texas Bowl?

Bowl season provides us with many things. One of them is narratives that stick with teams through the whole offseason. Many of these are overreactions, while some turn out to be true.

Bowl games are always the most recent data point we have and people often tend to believe what happened most recently is most likely to happen again.

In LSU’s case, it might be especially dubious to read into what happens on Tuesday night. The Tiger roster that takes the field against Kansas State will be much different than the one we see next year. Furthermore, the coaching staff won’t look remotely the same either.

From a team standpoint, I think it’ll be impossible to take anything away from this bowl game. Which, I know, is frustrating. If you’re team isn’t in a meaningful bowl, sometimes the fun lies in what they give you to look forward to in the next season. The good news is that’s still doable from a individual player standpoint.

Remember 2014? It was a lost season for LSU. They came in with expectations, but for the first time in a few years, did not win 10 games. They were sent to Nashville to face Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl.

LSU lost that game but I still remember it today. Leonard Fournette had his breakout game leading fans to be excited for what they might see from Fournette and LSU in 2015. Fournette went on to have one of the greatest individual seasons LSU fans had ever seen.

At that time, Fournette was an obvious breakout candidate. LSU was waiting for him to have that game after coming in as the top-ranked recruit in college football. There’s not a clear player to watch for that on LSU now, but they do have some young guys capable of announcing themselves.