Houston Rallies From 14-0 Down to Stun LSU 38-35 in Texas Bowl
Okay so I maybe dont cover sports as much as some of my colleagues but this game was genuinely fun to watch and I feel like it deserves some attention?
Houston came back from a 14-0 deficit to beat LSU 38-35 in the Texas Bowl Saturday night. And look, Im not going to pretend I know all the intricacies of college football strategy but even I could tell this was a pretty wild game.
The Comeback
LSU came out absolutely scorching. ESPN reports Barion Brown returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Then they scored again like four minutes later. It was 14-0 before Houston even had time to blink.
And then… Houston just kind of took over? They scored 21 unanswered points to take a 21-14 halftime lead. The official UH recap has all the details.
Conner Weigman Was Incredible
The Houston quarterback finished 27-of-36 for 236 yards and four touchdowns. No interceptions. Plus 56 rushing yards. Sports Illustrated says he set a Houston bowl game record for passing touchdowns and tied Patrick Mahomes’ Texas Bowl record.
He won the MVP which, yeah. Obviously.
Playing At Home (Kind Of)
This is the part I found interesting. The game was at NRG Stadium which is literally six miles from Houston’s campus. They were basically playing at home. 63,867 people showed up and Im guessing most of them were wearing red.
College football bowl games can be weird because sometimes teams are traveling across the country to play in empty stadiums. This was the opposite. Home field advantage for a bowl game.
What It Means for Houston
Houston finishes 10-3 which is apparently their first 10-win season since 2021. Underdog Dynasty notes its their seventh 10-win season in school history.
Willie Fritz took over last year and they went 4-8. This is a six-win improvement. Thats… good? Im told thats very good.
Dean Connors Too
The running back had 126 yards rushing including a 20-yard touchdown that basically sealed the game. 247Sports reports it was his third 100-yard rushing game as a Cougar.
His season total is 977 yards which is apparently the most by a Houston running back since 2014. College sports are confusing these days with all the transfers but at least some players still stick around.
The LSU Side
NOLA.com has the LSU perspective if youre interested. It was Frank Wilson’s final game as interim coach. Not exactly how he wanted to go out I imagine.
Houston Chronicle coverage is worth reading for the local angle.
Anyway. Fun game. Sports are nice when theyre actually exciting instead of just… existing? Maybe I should pay more attention to football.