Baylor’s Six-Game Win Streak Snapped, Bears Taken Down by Tigers in Texas Bowl Tussle

HOUSTON – In the first meeting between the two schools since 1985, Baylor (8-5) fell 44-31 to LSU (9-4) in the Texas Bowl on Tuesday afternoon at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The Texas Bowl tussle was Baylor head coach Dave Aranda’s first matchup against his former school, LSU, where he spent four seasons as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator and helped guide LSU’s defense to the 2019 National Championship.

Aranda and Baylor, however, couldn’t keep the dynamic Tigers offense at bay in the loss. LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier (Jr.) torched Baylor’s secondary for much of the afternoon, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns on 24-of-34 passing and earning the Texas Bowl Most Valuable Player award.

Baylor had its chances to close in on LSU’s lead, but self-inflicted wounds drastically hurt the Bears in the defeat. Baylor was 1-for-6 on fourth-down conversions, allowed a pick-six, surrendered a 95-yard kick-off return for a touchdown and incurred a crucial roughing the punter penalty in the fourth quarter.

“With this game, there were way too many mistakes; it was unfortunate,” Aranda said post-game. “There hasn’t been a game like this in a while where we [didn’t play] complementary football. If you take away any one of those mistakes that we had, we’d [have a chance] to go win the game at the end.”

“We had the opportunity to win, and it slipped through our fingers,” linebacker Kyler Jordan (RSo.) added.

With the Bears trailing for much of the contest, quarterback Sawyer Robertson (RJr.) threw for a career-high 445 yards and two touchdowns on 30-of-51 passing.

LSU marched down the field on its first possession, and Nussmeier found tight end Trey’Dez Green (Fr.) for a 10-yard touchdown. Green caught six passes for 52 yards and two touchdowns in place of All-SEC tight end Mason Taylor (Jr.), who opted out of Saturday’s game to prepare for the NFL Draft.

On Baylor’s opening offensive possession, an ineligible man downfield penalty on center Coleton Price (RSo.) put the Bears behind the sticks early. 

On second and long, Robertson looked left and tried to connect with running back Bryson Washington (RFr.) on a screen pass. The ball, however, deflected off Washington’s hands into the waiting arms of LSU linebacker Davhon Keys (Fr.), who took the interception 41 yards to the house.

Washington exited the game with a concussion after taking a shot midway through the first quarter. The absence of the Freshman All-American tailback was a major blow for Baylor’s offense the rest of the way. In his last four games, Washington combined for 624 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.

“It was really disappointing [when he went down], especially with the season he was having,” Cameron said. “He’s a really key player to the team.”

The Bears got on the board to start the second quarter when Robertson connected with wide receiver Josh Cameron (RJr.) for an acrobatic 21-yard score where Cameron bobbled the ball but secured the catch and narrowly got one foot inbounds for his team-high 10th receiving touchdown.

The Tigers answered with 14 straight points to take a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter. Nussmeier added to his MVP outing with touchdown passes on both LSU possessions.

“We knew coming into the game that LSU had a great passing offense; we prepped for a lot of stuff that we saw, but we didn’t execute,” Jordan said.

Later in the second quarter, Baylor regained momentum following a blocked field goal from Jordan, the first of his career. The Bears then drove down the field, and running back Dawson Pendergrass (So.) capped off the possession with a one-yard rushing touchdown, which was his fifth of the season.

In place of an injured Washington, Pendergrass rushed for 63 yards on 21 carries.

The Tigers, however, stole the momentum right back on a 95-yard kick return touchdown from Zavion Thomas (Jr.). The Bears added a late field goal but allowed a season-high 34 points in the first half and trailed 34-17 going into the locker room half-time.

To open the second half, Baylor swiftly went down the field with Robertson spreading the ball around to four different pass catchers. On fourth and goal, Robertson slightly overthrew wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins (5Sr.), who came down with the ball and appeared to get a foot inbounds for the touchdown. 

The refs, however, somewhat controversially ruled it incomplete after the replay, and the Bears were left scoreless.

“I think [it was a touchdown], but the refs didn’t call it a touchdown, so it wasn’t,” tight end Gavin Yates (Sr.) said post-game of Hawkins’ catch.

Three plays later, Baylor got the football back after defensive back Carl Williams IV (So.) forced a fumble, and safety Devyn Bobby (Jr.) recovered it at the BU 37-yard line. The Bears took advantage of the turnover, and Robertson hit Hawkins for a four-yard touchdown to shorten the Tiger's lead to 34-24.

On the next LSU drive, Nussmeier lost track of Garmon Randolph (6Sr.) and threw directly into the arms of the 6-foot-4 outside linebacker for his first interception of the afternoon. With the Bears looking to make it a one-score game, Price sailed a snap over the head of Robertson on fourth and short deep inside LSU’s territory.

With Baylor running out of opportunities, the Tigers iced the victory with a four-yard rushing touchdown from running back Josh Williams (Sr.) to extend the LSU lead, 41-24, to a three-score game.

Pendergrass added a late rushing touchdown — his second of the day.