There’s an obvious reason why LSU, which opened as a 2½-point favorite to win Tuesday’s TaxAct Texas Bowl vs. Kansas State in Houston’s NRG Stadium, is now a 7½-point underdog.
The Las Vegas oddsmakers didn’t count the 6-6 Tigers having just 39 scholarship players available because of COVID-19 protocols, opt-outs, injuries and disciplinary reasons.
“I can tell by looking around our team meeting we’re a little thin,” LSU starting senior center Liam Shanahan said. “But like I said, we’re all we got (and) we’re all we need.”
Since closing the regular season with a 27-24 win over Texas A&M on Nov. 27, LSU now has lost players who combined for 92.2 percent of the Tigers’ total offense yards this season, 96.3 percent of the rushing yardage and 99.7 percent of its passing yardage.
Defensively, LSU will be without seven of its top 10 tacklers and it listed just three cornerbacks including a walk-on on its Texas Bowl depth chart.
None of the three players who combined to return 22 punts this will present vs. the 7-5 Wildcats.
However, placekicker Cade York and his 84 points are ready to roll as is punter/kickoff specialist Avery Atkins, who also happens to be LSU’s leading passer entering this game with his 26-yard fake punt completion to tight end Jack Mashburn vs. Alabama.
LSU’s starting quarterback is a mystery, but whether it’s freshmen walk-ons Tavion Faulk or Matt O’Dowd or senior wide receiver Jontre Kirklin who last threw a pass as Lutcher High’s QB in December 2016, the Tigers have no available QB who has attempted a pass in a college game.
Four assistant coaches remain from the 2021 staff of former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron but only Brad Davis is being retained as offensive line coach by new head coach Brian Kelly.
Davis is the Tigers’ interim coach for the bowl, making history as LSU’s first African American head coach ever, if only for a game. While Davis appreciates the achievement, he’d also like to be the first LSU interim coach to win a bowl game.
“There's nothing about what we're doing right now that’s casual, or guys just going through the motions,” Davis said. "We've been preparing our butts off. Our expectation is to win.
"There's a bunch of kids that may not have gotten as many opportunities in the regular season that are eager and hungry to go out there and play. The challenge during bowl preparations has been to find out what they do (best), accent it and come up with a plan that puts our players in the best position and allows us to have success against Kansas State."
LSU sophomore linebacker Mike Jones Jr. praised Davis for the way he has handled the team during the chaos of hiring a new head coach and staff as well as key players opting out of the bowl or transferring such as starting quarterback Max Johnson to Texas A&M.
“This is an adjustment period here at LSU,” said Jones Jr., who transferred into the program this season from Clemson and saw his playing time increase dramatically late in the season. “Things are not the same as probably as it was when guys were recruited, or (for) guys who have been here for multiple years.
“When you don’t know what’s going to happen next, transparency is what guys need. He (Davis) has kept real with us. Guys know what to expect, know where to be, know (how) to get the job done and handle our business.”
While it seems there has been drama in the LSU football program the last two seasons since winning the 2019 national championship, Kansas State hasn’t had such a crisis heading into the Texas Bowl.
The Wildcats are led by sophomores Deuce Vaughn on offense and Felix Anudike-Uzomah on defense.
Running back Vaughn enters the Texas Bowl ranked eighth in school history in single-season rushing yards with 1,258. He's also only one of two players in the nation with at least 1,000 rushing yards and 400 receiving yards this season.
Anudike-Uzomah, a first-team All Big 12 defensive end, is ranked first in the nation in forced fumbles (6), while he is ninth in the nation and second in the Big 12 in sacks (11) and second in the Big 12 in tackles for loss (14½ ).
And in contrast to LSU’s quandary having no starting quarterback with experience for the Texas Bowl, K-State senior Skylar Thompson is making the 40th and final start of his Wildcats’ career.
He's the first K-State QB quarterback since 1990 to win 23 games as a starter, the first player in school history to record 6,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards, and he ranks top 10 all-time in 15 different statistical categories. Thompson is second all-time in total yards (7,952), second all-time in passing yards (6,875), third all-time in touchdown passes (39), and fourth all-time in passing efficiency (140.6).
Thompson missed almost the entire 2020 season with a shoulder injury and has played through two knee injuries this season.
"Going into it (the Texas Bowl), it's probably the most meaningful game of my career, not probably — it is," Thompson told K-State football website writer D. Scott Fritchen. "I'm just trying to focus on the little things and enjoy the little moments in this process. I know it's coming to an end. Saying that, we came down here to win, and that's our main focus."
