By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
HOUSTON — Redshirt junior quarterback Sawyer Robertson threw for a career-high 445 yards on 30-of-51 passes, but a handful of self-inflicted wounds ate away at Baylor football’s chances to knock off LSU as they fell to the Tigers in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl, 44-31, Tuesday afternoon at NRG Stadium.
Head coach Dave Aranda saw the Bears (8-5) convert just one of six fourth down attempts against his former team, resulting in six of 13 drives ending in turnovers. The Tigers (9-4) earned their first bowl win over the green and gold, making up for losses in the 1985 Liberty Bowl and 1963 Bluebonnet Bowl.
“Way too many mistakes, and it’s just so unfortunate,” Aranda said. “There hasn’t been a game like this in a while. We’ve played complementary football and this was not that. I think you take away just one of the mistakes that we had, and then we’re going to go win the game at the end of the game.”
The Tigers set the tone early as redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier marched his team down the field after receiving the opening kickoff. LSU found itself staring down fourth-and-5 from the Baylor 36-yard line. Staying aggressive, Nussmeier fired a bullet to the sideline and picked up just enough to keep the drive rolling.
The 12-play drive concluded in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Nussmeier to freshman tight end Trey’Dez Green, who tiptoed to the back of the end zone on a third-and-5 play to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 8:31 in the first quarter.
Less than two minutes later, Baylor’s opening drive stalled out when a screen pass to redshirt freshman Bryson Washington popped out of his hands and fell into the arms of freshman linebacker Davhon Keys, who stormed it 41 yards to the end zone to give LSU a 14-0 lead.
Washington left the game the next drive with a head injury and finished the game with just five carries for 24 yards. Robertson then turned his attention back to the air and targeted redshirt junior wide receiver Josh Cameron, who finished with a game-high eight receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown.
“Definitely sucks going out like that, for sure,” Cameron said. “It’s the little details that make or break the game, honestly, and we just weren’t really on that today.”
Cameron rounded out the first quarter by hauling in a 20-yard pass across the middle that was initially bobbled before being brought down while falling to the turf. Robertson eyed Cameron again to open the second quarter and lofted a pass to the front right pylon, where Cameron once again bobbled the pass before snagging it out of the air in front of him.
Initially, the pass was ruled incomplete, but after replays in the stadium, Robertson and the offensive line trotted around the field with their arms above their heads signaling for the ruling to be overturned to a touchdown. After an official review, the play was deemed a touchdown, cutting Baylor’s deficit to 14-7.
Nussmeier instantly responded with a 20-yard pass completion and a 41-yard touchdown pass to redshirt junior wide receiver Chris Hilton Jr. to extend LSU’s lead to 21-7 with 12:16 in the second quarter. Nussmeier earned Texas Bowl MVP after completing 24 of 34 passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
“We had the opportunity, we just let it slip through our fingers,” redshirt junior outside linebacker Kyler Jordan said. “Too many self-inflicted wounds. I’m just super thankful for all the seniors and everything that they do for us.”
Without Washington, Baylor’s offense struggled to find a groove which resulted in a three-and-out on the next possession. Nussmeier once again stared down the long ball and heaved a 43-yard pass to the 1-yard line, where sophomore cornerback Caden Jenkins was flagged for pass interference. The receiver slid on the turf and corralled the ball, negating the flag but setting up a touchdown pass three snaps later.
Fifth-year wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins rammed back with an over-the-shoulder 35-yard completion that propelled Baylor back in plus territory. But after the big play, the drive concluded in Robertson being swarmed in the backfield on fourth-and-10.
The Tigers marched down to the Baylor 19-yard line and took three shots at the end zone before sending out the field goal unit. LSU lined up a 36-yard field goal, took the snap, and Jordan swatted the kick down. Multiple Bears chased after the ball and booted it out of bounds at the 36-yard line, where the Baylor offense took over.
“It worked just like we drew it up. Kudos to Matt Jones,” Jordan said. “It was really cool.”
Using the two-minute warning to his advantage, Robertson completed four passes in five plays to set the Bears up at the 1-yard line. Sophomore running back Dawson Pendergrass finished the drive by lowering his shoulder and plowing through the defense for a 1-yard touchdown, cutting LSU’s lead down to 28-14 with 1:41 left in the half. Pendergrass racked up 63 yards on 21 carries and found paydirt twice.
The momentum didn’t stick as junior LSU wide receiver Zavion Thomas hauled in the kickoff one play later and bolted to the end zone for a 95-yard kick return touchdown. The snap for the extra point was ill-timed, and the extra point flew wide left, giving LSU a 34-14. The Tigers’ 34 first-half points were the most allowed by the Bears in a single half all year.
“I thought they were exploiting our corners, especially to the field,” Aranda said. “For us to break through this other level we got to get to, we have to immensely play better than, really, what we did all season long. This was reflective of our season a little bit.”
Baylor had just enough time to flip sides of the field and take three shots at the end zone before trotting out Isaiah Hankins, who knocked in a 23-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
The green and gold put themselves in scoring position to open the second half, but a fourth-and-6 touchdown pass to Hawkins at the LSU 9-yard line was reversed after review. Hawkins was staring at the turf, trying to keep his toes inbounds, but after more than six minutes of time at the video booth, the call changed to incomplete.
“Shoot, I thought [he caught it] from my angle,” Cameron said.
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Hawkins, not satisfied without a touchdown, scored the next time down the field after a 4-yard pass. The drive was set up by sophomore safety Carl Williams IV, who punched the ball free at midfield on the third play of LSU’s drive.
Sixth-year linebacker Garmon Randolph got in on the turnover action as well, baiting Nussmeier into a bad pass that was intercepted on the ensuing possession. Aranda and the Bears were hungry for more than a field goal, resulting in one of four turnovers on downs in the second half.
“We were down so much and then we were moving the ball so well,” Aranda said. “There could be some crazy stuff that happens, but if crazy stuff doesn’t happen, we need touchdowns and not field goals. You have the pick-6, and you have the return. That margin of error, we were really never able to get on the other side of it.”
Baylor sat on the LSU 17-yard line before sophomore center Coleton Price launched the fourth-and-1 snap over the head of both Robertson and Pendergrass in the backfield. Robertson chased after the ball and fell on it 35 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
The Tigers marched on from there, going 47 yards in seven plays to score a wildcat rushing touchdown and field goal after the second consecutive turnover on downs for the Bears. Trialing 44-24 with 9:46 remaining, Robertson marched the offense 75 yards in just over three minutes and saw Pendergrass punch in his second score.
Still in the game, Aranda used his timeouts on LSU’s next drive to save time in case the green and gold found possession again. The Tigers were prepared to go for it on fourth-and-1 from midfield, but a false start pushed them backward and sent out the kicking unit. The very next play, LSU’s mistake was matched tenfold by Baylor.
Sophomore safety Micah Gifford rammed into the punter before Cameron swerved through defenders and went 84 yards down the field for a touchdown that was promptly called back. With a fresh set of downs, LSU drained the clock to 1:09 before coming up short on fourth-and-5 and giving the Bears one final possession.
“That’s just football sometimes,” Cameron said. “I looked back and I saw the flag and I was like, ‘Dang.’ You just have to keep on going. At the end of the day, this is a good start. And we can just propel that into next season.”
Robertson cleared the 400 passing yard mark on the drive and moved the Baylor offense down to the LSU 5-yard line. Four incomplete passes followed and time ran out on the Bears, handing a 44-31 Kinder’s Texas Bowl victory to LSU.
“That winning streak was an opportunity to get some positivity around us and some feel good around us, but this game was an opportunity to kind of take all that and get to a whole other level,” Aranda said. “I think the moment was too big for us.”
Aranda said the team will have NIL meetings with players in the coming days and team meetings where the team will figure out their approach for the upcoming offseason.
