Kansas State football draws LSU in Texas Bowl in Houston, per report
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Kansas State fans hoping for a Florida bowl trip will have to wait.
The Wildcats are headed back to Texas instead.
K-State accepted an invitation Sunday to face LSU in the Texas Bowl at 8 p.m. on Jan. 4 at NRG Stadium in Houston. It will be the Wildcats' third Texas Bowl appearance and the second in five years.
They beat Texas A&M in the 2016 game, 33-28, and lost 37-10 to Rutgers in 2006.
It will be the 23rd bowl game in program history and the second in three seasons under coach Chris Klieman. The Wildcats are 9-13 all time, most recently falling 20-17 to Navy in the 2019 Liberty Bowl.
K-State finished the regular season 7-5 overall and 4-5 in the Big 12 after dropping its last two games to Baylor and Texas. LSU, from the SEC, is 6-6, but has won two straight, beating Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 20, 27-14, and closing the regular season the following week with a 27-24 upset of then-No. 14 Texas A&M.
Offensive line coach Brad Davis will serve as the Tigers' head coach for the bowl game in place of Ed Orgeron, who resigned effective at the end of the regular season. LSU hired Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame on Nov. 30 to be its new hea
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Many K-State fans had their hearts set on the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, which would have been the school's first Florida bowl game. But Cheez-It bowl officials instead chose Iowa State, which had an identical 7-5 regular-season record, but beat the Wildcats head-to-head and finished with one more conference win.
The Cyclones also played in the 2019 Camping World Bowl, as it was known then, again bumping K-State down the ladder.
K-State, which resumed practice Saturday, enters the postseason with question marks at several positions and a depleted coaching staff after offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham and fullbacks/tight ends coach Jason Ray were cut loose on Friday. Quarterback coach Collin Klein will serve as interim offensive coordinator for the game.
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The Wildcats also are suddenly thin at running back behind standout Deuce Vaughn with backups Joe Ervin and Jacardia Wright both entering the transfer portal. The same is true on defense, where linebacker Wayne Jones, cornerback Tee Denson and safety Aamaris Brown also announced in the last month-plus that they are leaving.
On the bright side, sixth-year senior Skylar Thompson should be good to go at quarterback after suffering an apparent ankle injury late in the Baylor game and missing the season finale at Texas.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football draws LSU in Texas Bowl in Houston: Report
