LIVE Game Thread: LSU vs. No. 21 Houston at the Texas Bowl

LSU wraps up the 2025 season with Saturday night’s Texas Bowl matchup against Houston, which marks back-to-back trips by the Tigers to NRG Stadium in Houston.

A year ago, LSU beat Baylor in the Texas Bowl. Now, it’s a matchup with the hometown Houston Cougars, a program that closed out the regular season with a 9-3 record and ranked No. 21 in the polls.

Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. CT on ESPN, with LSU’s radio broadcast team airing on the LSU Sports Radio Network.

ESPN’s Tom Hart, Cole Cubelic and Ian Fitzsimmons will be on the television broadcast call, while Chris Blair, Jacob Hester and Gordy Rush will be on hand for the LSU radio call.

Saturday will mark LSU’s 25th bowl (or playoff) appearance across the past 26 years, a streak that dates back to an appearance in the Peach Bowl in 2000.

The Bengal Tiger’s Shea Dixon, Matthew Brune and Bryce Koon will be on The Ponderosa Message Board for the weekly LSU “LIVE Game Thread” with instant analysis, thoughts, stats, highlights of big moments, scoring updates, and much more.

CLICK HERE TO DISCUSS THE GAME WITH LSU FANS ON THE MESSAGE BOARD!

LSU, in a year when head coach Brian Kelly was fired in late-October, finished the month of November with a 2-2 record under interim head coach Frank Wilson, moving the program’s overall record to 7-5 on the season.

With LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier sidelined across the past four games, Michael Van Buren is slated to start for the Tigers for the fifth game in a row.

However, the Tigers will be without some key pieces to the 2025 team for a variety of reasons – whether injuries or decisions made to prepare for the NFL Draft or sit out of the game with plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal next month.

Among the LSU players not slated to be on the field Saturday night against Houston include a pair of First-Team All-American selections at defensive back in cornerback Mansoor Delane and safety A.J. Haulcy. LSU is also expected to be without wide receiver Aaron Anderson and linebacker Harold Perkins, among others.

Houston is favored by a field goal over LSU with an over/under set at 41.5 points, per BetMGM‘s Saturday afternoon lines.