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LSU defeated Baylor 44-31 in the Texas Bowl on Tuesday night.
The victory pushes LSU to 9-4 on the season. While this was a disappointing year overall for the Tigers, it ensures a third consecutive 9+ win season to begin the Brian Kelly era in Baton Rouge.
Here are 3 takeaways from LSU’s big win:
LSU’s passing game comes alive
Garrett Nussmeier and LSU had an excellent night in the passing game. Nussmeier threw for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win.
A number of LSU wide receivers stepped up in a big way. Chris Hilton Jr. caught 4 passes for 113 yards and 1 touchdown. Aaron Anderson led the way for the Tigers with 8 catches for 91 yards.
But it was Trey’Dez Green who stole the show, scoring 2 touchdowns in the win. Green is a freshman who also plays basketball at LSU. He could have an even larger role in the offense moving forward into 2025.
Red zone defense
The truth is that LSU’s defense wasn’t very good for much of this game against the Bears. Baylor put up 31 points and averaged 6 yards per play as quarterback Sawyer Robertson threw for an impressive 445 yards.
But LSU was able to get the win because it tightened up in the red zone. Baylor scored on just 4 of its 7 red zone opportunities and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal at the end of the first half.
LSU forced Baylor to turn it over on downs a whopping 5 times including on the final drive of the game.
Special teams touchdown
Baylor scored a touchdown with 1:41 left in the 2nd quarter to cut LSU’s lead to 28-14. With the Bears set to get the ball to start the 3rd quarter, it looked like Baylor was building momentum toward a potential comeback in this game.
Zavion Thomas had other ideas.
Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown, restoring the Tigers’ 3-score lead just 13 seconds after Baylor shrunk the deficit.
Baylor’s offense was able to make things somewhat interesting in the 2nd half, but this touchdown from Thomas proved to be too much to overcome.
This was LSU’s 2nd kickoff return touchdown of the season.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
