LSU is familiar with its bowl venue.

But it’s not familiar with its bowl opponent.

The Tigers found out Sunday afternoon that they’re headed to Houston to face Kansas State in the Texas Bowl in NRG Stadium on Jan. 4.

LSU spent 5 days in Houston to prepare for its Sept. 4 season opener against UCLA after Hurricane Ida chased the team out of Baton Rouge. The Tigers even practiced at NRG Stadium.

Neither the Tigers nor the Wildcats played in a bowl game season because LSU self-imposed a bowl ban despite being eligible with a 5-5 record. KSU finished 4-6.

Here are 5 things to know about the Wildcats.

1 They are way off of the Tigers’ radar

LSU and Kansas State have played just once and that was more than 40 years ago.

It was Sept. 13, 1980 and the Tigers were playing just their second game after the Charles McClendon era ended.

LSU legend Jerry Stovall had taken over as head coach after Bo Rein died in a plane crash (Rein had been hired from North Carolina State to replace McClendon).

The Tigers, who lost their opener to No. 13 Florida State 16-0 a week earlier, gave Stovall his first win by beating the Wildcats 21-0 in Tiger Stadium.

2 They have coaching changes too

LSU offensive line coach Brad Davis is serving as interim head coach for this game as new Tigers head coach Brian Kelly focuses on hiring a staff and recruiting.

Third-year KSU head coach Chris Klieman is in a comfortable position, but his staff is in transition.

Klieman recently dismissed offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Courtney Messingham and tight ends coach Jason Ray.

Former Wildcats quarterback and current quarterbacks coach Collin Klein will serve as OC for this game, presenting a bit of a wild card for the Tigers’ defensive preparations.

3 KSU is a streaky team

The Wildcats won their first 3 games of the season, lost their first 3 Big 12 games, won their next 4 games and lost their last 2.

LSU didn’t get bowl eligible until Nov. 27 when it defeated Texas A&M to get to 6 wins. KSU earned bowl eligibility 3 weeks earlier when it defeated Kansas 35-10 to improve to 6-3.

The Wildcats got to 7 wins a week later by defeating West Virginia (34-17) but lost their home finale against Baylor (20-10) and the regular-season finale at Texas (22-17) on Nov. 26.

4 A much-improved defense

Klieman and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman revamped the Wildcats defense last off-season after the team allowed 32.2 points per game during a 4-6 season in 2020.

They installed a 3-3-5 package to complement the 4-3 base and promoted more aggression from the linebackers.

It paid significant dividends as KSU yielded an average of just 21.1 points per game, its lowest total since allowing 16.3 in 2003. The Wildcats have 30 sacks and 87 tackles for loss.

KSU held 11 of 12 opponents below their scoring average. Only Oklahoma State reached its average against the Wildcats, scoring 31 after averaging 25.9 entering the game.

The Wildcats held 6 consecutive conference opponents to fewer than 25 points for the first time in 18 years.

5 A special returner

The Tigers need to be leery of KSU’s all-conference kick returner Malik Knowles, who began this season as just the second Wildcat ever to score touchdowns of 70-plus yards on a run, a pass reception and a kickoff return.

He added to that total this season with touchdowns on kickoff returns of 99 yards against Oklahoma State and 93 against Oklahoma.

Knowles has 1,127 all-purpose yards this season – 102 rushing, 399 receiving and 626 on kickoff returns.