Bears face LSU in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on December 31st

WACO, Texas – Baylor football just completed the longest winning streak to end a regular season in program history, moving to 27^Th All-Time Bowl and his 12th^Th for the past 15 years and will face LSU in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on Dec. 31, live on ESPN at 2:30 p.m. and the Baylor Sports Media Network.

Baylor (8-4, 6-3 Big 12 Conference) will face LSU for the first time since the 1985 Liberty Bowl and travel to Houston for a bowl game for the first time since defeating Vanderbilt in the 2018 Academy Sports + Houston Bowl in outdoors.

LSU (8-4, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) leads the all-time series with the Bears at 8-3, and Baylor leads the all-time series in neutral site games at 3-1, including a bowl appearance in 1985 games against the Tigers and the 1963 Bluebonnet Bowl.

Baylor has made three bowl games in five years under coach Dave Arandaincluding the 2021 Sugar Bowl victory over Ole Miss, a berth in the 2022 Armed Forces Bowl and a berth in 2024. The Bears have been to a bowl game in 12 of the last 15 years.

The Bears have appeared in 27 bowl games so far and have posted a record of 14-13. BU’s first bowl came in the 1948 Dixie Bowl, a 20-7 victory over Wake Forest.

Bear Foundation members can benefit from BBF presales by requesting tickets before they are sold to the public. The BBF advance booking deadline is Tuesday at 12 p.m.

Public tickets for Baylor go on sale Tuesday at 5 p.m. Fans needing tickets can visit the official Kinder’s Texas Bowl ticketing website. To purchase tickets to the Texas Bowl, click here.

Baylor will be named the visiting team and will wear white and occupy the east sideline.

All Kinder’s Texas Bowl tickets will be digital. Fans must use a Ticketmaster account, download the Houston Texans app and scan their tickets with their mobile phone upon entering the stadium. Tickets will be distributed on or about Friday, December 27th.

In search of the tigers

• LSU enters the game with the Bears boasting an 8-4 record and a 5-3 record in Southeastern Conference play. The Tigers have won two in a row: 6-1 at Tiger Stadium and 2-2 on the road. LSU moved up to No. 8, which came on the heels of a 29-26 overtime win over No. 9 Ole Miss. The Tigers were ranked in 10 of their 12 games in 2024.
• LSU concluded its regular season with a 37-17 win over Oklahoma in Baton Rouge, La., on Nov. 30, which was followed by a 24-17 win over newcomer Vanderbilt. LSU suffered losses to Florida, No. 11 Alabama, No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 23 USC and earned victories over Nicholls, South Carolina, UCLA, South Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Vanderbilt at OU.
• LSU is under the leadership of third-year head coach Brian Kelly, a decorated winner who served as successful head coach at Grand Valley State (1991-2003), Central Michigan (2004-06) and Cincinnati (2006-09). . , Notre Dame (2010-21) and LSU (2022-24). Including all stops, Kelly holds an all-time record of 291-107-2 and has posted a 28-11 record in his three years at LSU, helping the Tigers to a 10-4 season in 2022 – including a Citrus Bowl Victory – a 10-3 mark in 2023 – including a ReliaQuest Bowl win – and an 8-4 mark on the year 2024. Kelly achieved a 92-39 record in his tenure in the South Bend, Ind.
• Kelly will be joined by assistant head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson, former UTSA and McNeese head coach, defensive coordinator Blake Baker and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. Cortez Hankton serves as co-offensive coordinator. A native of Houston, Baker is in his first year as a DC after serving as Missouri’s DC from 2022-23 and previously as LB coach at LSU in 2021. He was a DC at Miami in 2019-20 and at Louisiana Tech in 2015-18. Sloan coached QBs at LSU from 2022-23 before taking over the OC position in 2024. He was on staff at Louisiana Tech from 2013-21, including as OC from 2020-21.
• The Tigers are averaging 431.9 yards per game, including 315.3 passing and 116.6 rushing. Defensively, LSU allows 352.5 yards per game, including 205.9 passing and 146.6 rushing yards. LSU is averaging 29.3 points per game and allowing 23.7. QB Garrett Nussmeier has thrown for 3,739 yards with 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Caden Durham ran for 693 yards with six touchdowns and 127 carries, while Josh Williams added 108 carries for 440 yards and five touchdowns. Kyren Lacey led the way with 58 catches for 866 yards and nine touchdowns, while Aaron Anderson caught 53 balls for 784 yards with five touchdowns and Mason Taylor had 55 grabs for 546 yards and two scores. Defensively, White Weeks has 119 tackles, 10 for a loss and 3.5 sacks. Greg Penn III has 80 tackles, Bradyn Swinson has 8.5 sacks and 12 QB hurries and Zy Alexander has two interceptions.

HISTORY OF THE SERIES

• Baylor will face LSU for the 12th time in series history and the first time since facing LSU in the 1985 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, a 21-7 Baylor victory. LSU leads the all-time series 8-3 and the Bears lead 2-1 in neutral games.
• LSU has won three of the last four meetings and opened the series with wins in five consecutive games from 1907 to 1959. The Bears won in 1960, 1963 and 1985.

LAST MEETING

• Baylor will face LSU for the first time since the 1985 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., when the Bears posted a 21-7 victory by scoring a field goal in the second quarter and a TD and a two-pointer in the fourth quarter -Conversion achieved to achieve victory.
• The Bears used a strong defensive performance in the win, holding LSU to just nine first downs and 192 yards of total offense. Baylor totaled 26 first downs, 489 yards of offense, including 274 passing and 215 yards rushing. QB Cody Carlson threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns and Tom Mücke had 113 yards passing. Nine Bears have done it at least twice. John Simpson had three catches for 117 yards and a score and Matt Clark had three catches and a touchdown. Alan Jamison led the Bears with 11 tackles, with Thomas Everett making eight stops.
• The Bears finished the 1985 season with a 9-3 record, went 6-2 in the Southwest Conference and were ranked 17th in the final AP poll.

CONNECTING TEAMS

• Baylor has several immediate ties to LSU, most notably the Baylor head coach for four seasons (2016-19). Dave Aranda He spent time as defensive coordinator with the Tigers, where he was considered the best defensive player in college football. Aranda helped lead the Bears to the 2019 SEC Championships and 2019 CFP National Championship before taking over in Waco for the 2020 season.
• The defensive staff also includes the outside linebackers coach Caleb Collinswho was a defensive assistant at LSU in 2018 and an analyst in 2019 before joining Aranda for the 2020 season. Additionally, Baylor is chief of staff Jeff Grigus is a veteran of the LSU athletics department, serving as assistant director of football operations at LSU from 2017 to 2019, followed by a term as equipment manager from 2011 to 2017. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from LSU in 2010 and met his wife at LSU Know Samantha.
• Baylor’s Associate AD for NIL Administration and Professional Relations, Keava Boden-Cormierspent eight seasons at LSU as assistant director of recruiting, earning her bachelor’s degree from LSU in 2011 and her law degree in 2014. Senior Director of On-Campus Recruiting at BU, Taylor Halseyworked at LSU as a student recruiting assistant from 2019-22 and as a marketing intern at LSU from 2021-22, earning her degree from LSU in 2021 and her master’s degree in 2022. Count Chevalier is the Director of Football Player Development and Operations Assistant and is in his first year after transferring from LSU, where he previously served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach and also graduated from LSU in 2004. He was also a former LSU safeties coach Ed Paris is in his first year as assistant director of player personnel.

BOWL HISTORY: BEARS MAKE 12TH APPEARANCE IN THE PAST 15 YEARS

• For the 12th time in the last 15 years, the Baylor Bears are making a postseason bowl appearance.
• It will be Baylor’s first trip to Houston since defeating Vanderbilt in the Academy Sports Houston Bowl in 2018.
• Baylor has appeared in 27 bowl games in its history (14-13) and made three bowl trips under coach Dave Arandaalso captured the 2021 Sugar Bowl title in New Orleans, defeating Ole Miss 21-7 and facing Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.
• The Bears first appeared in a bowl game in 1948, the Dixie Bowl, where Wake Forest was defeated 20-7. Over the next 61 years, the Bears appeared in 16 bowl games before starting a winning streak in the program in 2010 that saw Baylor appear in bowl games in 12 of 15 years.

BAYLOR ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

• Baylor will play its first game on New Year’s Eve since 1994, a 10-3 loss to Washington State in the Alamo Bowl.
• The Bears are 3-5 all-time on New Year’s Eve with every New Year’s Eve game being a bowl game.