HOUSTON — LSU’s season didn’t go nearly the way it wanted it to. It did, however, finish on a positive note that the Tigers hope carries into next season.

Garrett Nussmeier passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Trey’Dez Green, as LSU beat Baylor 44-31 in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

LSU (9-4) started the season with hopes of reaching the College Football Playoffs. Those lasted until a three-game losing streak to Southeastern Conference rivals Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida in November.

The Tigers rallied with three consecutive wins, capped by beating Baylor (8-5) in a game they led from start to finish. LSU won for the sixth time in its last seven bowl games.

“I know cynics would say it’s disappointing,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “It wasn’t disappointing. It was a team that was less than perfect because of inexperience. A team that gained experience. … To win nine games and win three in a row at the end, I’m just happy for our football team.”

Nussmeier, who ranked second in the SEC in passing yards and touchdowns this season, has already announced he will return for the 2025 season. He said winning the bowl game was a good launching point.

“It’s definitely a good feeling to end the season with a win,” said Nussmeier, who was selected the game’s MVP. “It’s definitely something that we were looking forward to doing. It was one of our goals. Coach Kelly said before the game that this is the start of 2025, so we wanted to make a statement. We talked about having that killer instinct.”

Nussmeier threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Green on LSU’s opening drive, then Davhon Keys intercepted a defelected pass and took it back for a 41-yard TD on Baylor’s first possession.

Nussmeier added a 41-yard TD pass to Chris Hilton Jr. and a 1-yarder to Green — set up by another long completion to Hilton — to give LSU a 28-7 lead with 8:46 left in the first half.

Hilton finished with four receptions for 113 yards and one TD. Green caught six passes for 53 yards, and Aaron Anderson led the Tigers with eight catches for 91 yards.

Two of Green’s receptions came on the opening scoring drive — the touchdown, as well as a fourth down conversion.

Baylor did not go away quietly, although it struggled to get out of its own way. The Bears scored 10 points in the last two minutes of the first half, but in between the two scores allowed LSU’s Zavion Thomas to return a kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown.

In the second half, Ashtyn Hawkins had an apparent touchdown reception overturned when replay showed part of his foot landed out of bounds in the back of the end zone. It was fourth down, so LSU took over on downs at its own 9-yard line.

Another fourth down attempt by Baylor inside the 20-yard line resulted in a high snap that lost 36 yards. LSU turned it into a 4-yard touchdown run by Josh Williams and a 41-24 lead.

In the fourth quarter, with LSU leading 44-31, an 84-yard punt return touchdown by Josh Cameron was negated by a roughing the kicker penalty. LSU retained possession with 3:27 left and bled another 2 1/2 minutes off the clock instead of having to nurse a one-score lead to the finish.

Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson was 30-of-51 passing for a career-high 445 yards and two touchdowns. Dawson Pendergrass rushed for 63 yards and two touchdowns, and Cameron caught eight passes for 111 yards and a TD.

Baylor had its six-game winning streak snapped.

“I think with this game it’s just way too many mistakes,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. “Just so unfortunate. Hasn’t been a game like this in a while. We’ve played complementary football and this is not that. I think you take away just one of the mistakes that we had, and then we’re going to go win the game at the end of the game.”

Thomas’ kickoff return touchdown followed a 100-yard TD return by Aaron Anderson in LSU’s final regular-season game against Oklahoma to give the team an odd milestone.

It was the first time LSU has returned a kickoff for a touchdown in consecutive games since at least 1933, and the first time it has had two in a season since 1957.