LSU routs Texas Tech in 2015 Texas Bowl, led by Fournette

The end of Baylor’s regular season would have had anyone at a loss. It’s one thing to lose your starting quarterback. It’s another to lose your backup. It’s another to ask your third-stringer, a part-time receiver, to throw passes in an incredible rainstorm (against TCU). It’s another to lose that third-stringer and ask a full-time receiver to take snaps.

Even Alabama, with that amazing defense, would struggle to win with its fourth-string quarterback.

Sophomore halfback Leonard Fournette tore through Texas Tech for five total touchdowns, as the LSU Tigers dismantled the Red Raiders 56-27 in the 2015 Texas Bowl. Fournette ran for four scores and caught a 44-yard pass for a fifth. He finished with 212 rushing yards on 29 carries and 256 total yards from scrimmage.

Fournette, who already broke the LSU single-season rushing record earlier this season, now also holds the program record for most touchdowns in a season. His five total touchdowns tied the NCAA bowl game record for most touchdowns from scrimmage.

This is Kliff Kingsbury. He is a god amongst men.

Typically when you’re making fun of someone, you want to come up with something that will hurt their feelings.

It’s not supposed to work out this way. When behind-the-scenes actors decide it’s time for a coaching change, no matter how ridiculous, the change happens.

Of course, LSU makes a habit out of doing things differently. A coup against head coach Les Miles failed, and his goodbye moment at Death Valley against Texas A&M actually wasn’t.

On account of being in Texas, the Texas Bowl sends both of its teams to a rodeo. Last year, we got marvelous pictures of Bret Bielema and Charlie Strong in cowboy hats. This year’s pictures were even better, as LSU coach Les Miles, the coach of the apparent rodeo winner, walked away with a cowboy hat AND a Texas Bowl belt.

Miles said he would like to face Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury in a rodeo bowl:

New developments came to light in the trial between LSU and former defensive coordinator John Chavis, and they do not paint a flattering picture of the Tigers’ athletic department. The university admitted it altered Chavis’ contact, including the buyout clause at the center of his lawsuit, after the assistant coach had already signed the document.

Here’s what Chavis’ attorney Jill Craft told The Advocate’s Ross Dellenger:

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Bowl odds are out, and Alabama and Oklahoma are the favorites to advance to the national championship game, according to OddsShark. The Crimson Tide are favored by 10 points over Michigan State after opening as a nine-point favorite, while the Sooners are favored by four points over Clemson after opening as a 1.5-point favorite.

Elsewhere in the New Year’s Six bowls, Florida State is favored by 6.5 points over Houston in the Peach Bowl, Stanford is favored by 6.5 points over Iowa in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State is favored by six points over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and Ole Miss is favored by seven points over Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

The AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl, which was created as the replacement for the defunct Houston Bowl, pits the Big 12 against the SEC and is set for its 10th matchup.

Previously rotating through multiple conferences and then holding an annual tie-in for the Big Ten, the SEC stepped in to fill the void and dominated the Big 12 in the first-edition of the two conferences battling at NRG Stadium. Arkansas beat up on Texas, 31-7, in front of more than 70,000 fans.