HOUSTON -- The Texas Bowl was a ceremonious turning of the page for the LSU football program and coach Brian Kelly, much like the New Year's holiday.
Win or lose, what transpired between the lines inside NRG Stadium against Baylor was going to kick off 2025 for the Tigers.
Junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier helped begin writing the pages for next season by starting fast against the Bears, eventually throwing for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns en route to guiding LSU to the 44-31 victory on New Year's Eve.
"Coach Kelly said before the game this is the start of 2025. So wanted to make a statement," Nussmeier said following the game. "We talked about having that killer instinct."
LSU's four captains for the game were also a changing of the guard. Linebacker Greg Penn III and Josh Williams represented the group making their way out and Nussmeier and linebacker Whit Weeks, who suffered a dislocated ankle during the game, repping the group assuming leadership of next year's team.
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"It was about finishing '24 and starting '25," Kelly said. "Today was really about the first game of 2025. What we were talking about is we want to lean on our veterans to help us get there. It means we got off to a good start in '25.
"I wanted our guys to feel like this is the start we wanted. Let's build on this start in '25."
There were plenty of players getting their first significant playing time thanks to guys in front of them on the depth chart declaring for the NFL draft and opting not to play, or guys deciding to enter the transfer portal and leave.
Kelly and his staff got looks at players like freshman Tyree Adams playing left tackle for the fist time or freshman Bo Bordelon stepping in at right guard to make his first career start. Freshman tight end Trey'Dez Green had a big performance, pulling in six receptions for 53 yards and two touchdowns.
On defense, freshman P.J. Woodland played most of the second half while Zy Alexander was hurt. Javien Toviano played safety for the first time and recorded six tackles.
"There's so many guys now that have experience playing. Now add some additions that have veteran experience (out of the transfer portal) and that's really why we wanted to wait and give these guys some experience," Kelly said.
"Now you have a healthy roster, you have depth on your football team going into the SEC."
The building of much-needed depth comes on the heels of Kelly and his staff signing the No. 1-rated transfer portal class, hitting on most of the team's areas of need.
Returning linebacker West Weeks said winning the Texas Bowl sets LSU up for 2025 and it starts with how it affects the mood of the team.
"It's the last game of the season, that's the taste in your mouth for the whole offseason," Weeks said. "So getting that win was huge for us and catapulting us into next year and our national championship run."
Because of what he saw out of a number of guys, Nussmeier believes the statement LSU made was that ti is going to have a good team in 2025. "There's already good players here," he said after mentioning what the team is adding via the portal.
But before the Tigers can get there, evaluations need to be made, just like they are at the end of every season.
"We have to do some things better. That's part of this process every year," Kelly said. "We evaluate everything we do. We'll look at those things over the next four to six weeks. This is a championship program and we fell short of that. So we have to evaluates all of those things and it starts with me and how I led and it goes through and permeates the entire program."
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Why LSU fooball's Texas Bowl win was the right start to 2025