LSU safety won’t play in Texas Bowl, expected to transfer, per report
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LSU safety Javien Toviano wasn’t with the team in Houston for Saturday night’s Texas Bowl showdown against Houston, and he’s expected to enter the transfer portal when it opens on Jan. 2, according to a report Friday afternoon by Matt Moscona of 104.5 ESPN.
Toviano has primarily been a backup in the secondary during his 3 seasons at LSU, but his absence won’t help the Tigers’ cause on Saturday night in the 9:15 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN nor will it help them next season when Lane Kiffin takes over in Baton Rouge. The 6-foot-1, 197-pound junior will instead be headed elsewhere for the 2026 season.
He was used in multiple spots over his 3 seasons at LSU after being a highly recruited safety in the Class of 2023. LSU beat out Texas and Texas A&M for Toviano’s services, but he never panned out in Baton Rouge like the Tigers envisioned.
It wasn’t like Toviano didn’t see the field a lot either. He played in double-digit games during all 3 of his seasons at LSU, and he’ll have one season of eligibility left wherever he winds up playing next fall.
The Arlington, Texas, native who left the Lone Star State to play in Baton Rouge will finish his LSU career with 53 total tackles, 1 tackle-for-loss and 1 forced fumble.
Toviano will hope to get more playing time at whatever collegiate destination he chooses for the 2026 season.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
