2025 Texas Bowl
Postseason college football bowl game
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The 2025 Texas Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2025, at the NRG Stadium located in Houston, Texas. The 19th annual Texas Bowl game began at approximately 8:15 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN.[1][2] The Texas Bowl was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by Kinder's, a maker of barbecue sauce and other seasonings, and officially known as the Kinder's Texas Bowl.
| 2025 Kinder's Texas Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 19th Texas Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 27, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | NRG Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Houston, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Conner Weigman (QB, Houston) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Houston by 1.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Jason Nickleby (Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 63,867 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Tom Hart (play-by-play), Cole Cubelic (analyst) and Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline) (ESPN) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Houston Cougars from the Big 12 Conference defeated the LSU Tigers from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) by a 38–35 score.[3]
Teams
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game was played between a team from the Big 12 Conference, Houston, and a team from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), LSU. Prior to the Texas Bowl, the teams had played three times, most recently in 2000, with LSU holding a 2–1 edge in the series.[4]
Houston Cougars
Houston opened their season with four consecutive wins, then lost to Texas Tech. They won their next three games and had a 7–1 record at the end of October. The Cougars lost two of their four November games—to West Virginia and TCU—and entered the Texas Bowl with a 9–3 record.[5]
LSU Tigers
LSU opened their season with a win over fourth-ranked Clemson and also won their next three games. However, four losses in their next five games left them with a record of 5–4 through November 8. The Tigers finished their regular season with two wins in their final three games and entered the Texas Bowl with a 7–5 record.[6]
Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LSU | 14 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| No. 21 Houston | 7 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
at NRG Stadium • Houston, Texas
- Date: Saturday, December 27, 2025
- Game time: 8:15 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Sunny
- Game attendance: 63,867
- Referee: Jason Nickleby
- TV announcers (ESPN): Tom Hart (play-by-play), Cole Cubelic (analyst), and Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline reporter)
- Box score
| Game information |
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Statistics
| Statistics | LSU | HOU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 17 | 32 |
| Plays–yards | 50–344 | 82–437 |
| Rushes–yards | 24–77 | 46–201 |
| Passing yards | 267 | 236 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 16–26–0 | 27–36–0 |
| Turnovers | ||
| Time of possession | 21:28 | 38:32 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSU | Passing | Michael Van Buren Jr. | 16/26, 267 yards, 3 TD |
| Rushing | Harlem Berry | 3 carries, 45 yards | |
| Receiving | Trey'Dez Green | 4 receptions, 80 yards, 2 TD | |
| Houston | Passing | Conner Weigman | 27/36, 236 yards, 4 TD |
| Rushing | Dean Connors | 16 carries, 126 yards, TD | |
| Receiving | Tanner Koziol | 9 receptions, 76 yards, TD |