Hope, Hype and a Warning
Jan 03, 2025 11:42AM ● By Kelsey Swire
By Jim Gazzolo
It was a bowl game that left Tiger fans with hope but also a warning.
LSU’s thumping of Baylor Tuesday in the Texas Bowl gives the faithful another offseason to hype up their club. It showed just how good this offense can be next fall.
However, there are also plenty of warning signs when you get over the joy of the new year.
The 44-31 win in Houston looks far too familiar.
Each of the last two years ended with the same type of victory. The Tigers greeted 2002 with a 63-7 destruction of Purdue in the Citrus Bowl.
Last year was rung in with a 35-31 Tiger victory over Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Two victories over Power Conference foes that were expected to lift the program back into elite status and national title contention. Especially with an expanded 12-team playoff, Tiger talk was all about a big next season.
Yet in each of the last two openers, LSU looked like a different club, losing games and putting the Tigers in a hole they never fully could dig out of either time.
So, there you have it: the hope, hype, and frustration the fan base has suffered through in Brian Kelly’s first three seasons in Baton Rouge. Now, the head coach is even talking about a national title next season, even before this one is over.
Maybe the Tigers would be better with fewer words and more action at the beginning of next year, which by the way, opens with a Power Conference opponent again in Clemson.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. So, it is up to LSU’s players and coaches to make sure they change things for the better.
Certainly, LSU has a lot to build on after its big win; however, that has also been said of the last two seasons.
Two years ago, a returning quarterback had Louisianans all excited. How could the Tigers lose with Jayden Daniels coming off a 56-point victory?
Daniels proved to be great, won the Heisman Trophy and LSU lost four games.
Then last year, a giant win over Wisconsin thanks to their new quarterback, Garrett Nussmeier, who was born in Lake Charles. With a new defensive coordinator and Nussmeier, how could the Tigers lose?
Again, LSU lost four games and was lucky it was just that.
It seems that bowl games don’t always lead to great things the following year for this program—at least not under Kelly.
Yes, Nussmeier looked good once again in the bowl game. He finished off Baylor going 24 of 34 for 304 yards and three scores.
Before you get too excited, that was 91 yards fewer than the year before. So, more hope and another warning.
Nussmeier has said he is coming back for another year at LSU. That is good and likely true. But after his performance, and some struggles by other top QBs around the country, he could be under pressure to go into the draft.
He may just find out he could be the top pick overall at this point. You can’t do much better than that next year.
While everything looks good now for a big LSU season, we have seen just how quickly that can fade. One loss in the first week, and everything changes.
So, before you get too excited, take a deep breath, relax and see what can happen and also what can go wrong.
Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles.