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Houston Rallies Behind Weigman’s Four TDs To Beat LSU And Win The 2025 Texas Bowl, 38-35

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(BCSNN) – Playing just six miles from campus, Houston turned the Texas Bowl into a statement win and a celebration. Junior quarterback Conner Weigman threw for 236 yards and four touchdowns as the Cougars erased an early 14-0 deficit and held off LSU 38-35 on Saturday night, securing a 10‑win season in Willie Fritz’s second year.

Weigman completed 27 of 36 passes and added 56 rushing yards, guiding Houston (10-3) to its sixth win in seven games and its biggest comeback of the season. His touchdown passes of eight and four yards to Amare Thomas and a seven‑yard strike to tight end Tanner Koziol helped flip the game before halftime, turning a two‑score hole into a 21-14 lead at the break.

Houston never trailed again.

Ethan Sanchez’s 25‑yard field goal put the Cougars ahead 31-28 with 7:42 remaining, and after LSU went three‑and‑out, running back Dean Connors delivered the knockout blow — a 20‑yard touchdown run with 2:23 left, Houston’s largest lead of the night.

LSU’s Zavion Thomas cut the margin to 38-35 with a 3‑yard touchdown run at the 1:15 mark, but Houston recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

Koziol finished with nine catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, while Thomas added seven receptions for 66 yards and two scores. Connors rushed for 126 yards — his third 100‑yard performance of the season — and finished the year with 977 yards, the most by a Houston running back since 2014.

Houston outgained LSU 437-344 and controlled the game after the opening minutes.

LSU (7-6) stormed out to a 14-0 lead in the first 4:12, sparked by Barion Brown’s 99‑yard kickoff return to open the game and a 23‑yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. to Trey’Dez Green.

Van Buren threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring passes to Green and Kyle Parker, and helped LSU tie the game 28-28 early in the fourth quarter. But the Tigers’ defense couldn’t get the late stops it needed, and the loss capped a season in which LSU dropped six of its final nine games after a 4-0 start.

Houston, meanwhile, closed the year ranked No. 21 in the final CFP rankings and posted a six‑win improvement from Fritz’s debut season — one of the nation’s most dramatic year‑to‑year turnarounds.