No.1 LSU vs No.3 Clemson in the National Championship Game
What a talent matchup in the 6th edition of the College Football Playoff National Championship game.
No.1 LSU (14-0)
On one side you have Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Joe Burrow, who has thrown 55 touchdowns, 3 short of the single season record set by Colt Brennan of Hawaii in 2006, which Burrow will try to break tonight. Burrow has also completed 77.6% of his passes, a single season record so far besting second place Colt McCoy of Texas from 2008. McCoy completed 76.7% of his passes. Joe will need to complete 28 of 39 passes, as a ballpark figure, to keep the record. Burrow is also on pace to set the single season quarterback efficiency mark set by the Crimson Tide’s Tua Tagovailao last season. Joe is at 204.60 while Tua’s mark in 2018 was 199.44. The college football passer rating has no “caps” as opposed to the NFL, which has “caps” on its numbers. For example, the NFL’s caps for completion percentage for each game are 30% (low end) and 77.5% (high end). A passer who completes 90% of his passes still gets the same score as one who completes 77% of his passes, that would be 77.5%. A perfect passer rating in the NFL for a game is 158.3. For this season, Russell Wilson led all quarterbacks in passer rating for all 16 games at 106.3. Kirk Cousins had a passer rating of 107.4 in 15 games started, while Drew Brees had a 116.3 rating in 11 games started and the Titans Ryan Tannehill (what a victory Saturday Night at Baltimore) had a 117.5 rating in 10 games started.
In college those “caps” are not applicable. The rating is computed by number of passes attempted, number of passes completed, number of yards passing, number of passing TDs and number of passes intercepted.
The NCAA formula is yards+touchdowns-interceptions+completions divided by attempts. All of that to say that Joe Burrow was the runaway Heisman Trophy winner for many reasons, that being one of them. Joe also threw 7 touchdown passes against Oklahoma in the semifinal game tying the record for most touchdowns thrown in a bowl game. The record was set by Central Michigan’s Cooper Rush who did it in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl Joe threw all those TDs in one half and ran for another to set the bowl game record for most touchdowns in a single bowl game.
Joe has completed 371-of-478 passes (77.6%) for 5,208 yards, 55 TDs against only 6 ints. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, LSU’s star running back, only had 2 carries against Oklahoma due to a leg injury in a 63-28 victory, but the 2 week break has worked wonders for LSU’s RB who has rushed for 1,304 yards and 16 TDs this season while hauling in 50 passes for 399 yards. LSU’s bevy of receivers starts with Biletnikoff Award winner Ja’Marr Chase (78-1,559, 18 TDs) and Justin Jefferson (102-1,434, 18 TDs). Throw in Terrace Marshall (43-625, 12) and tight end Thaddeus Moss (42-534, 2 TDs) and the arsenal is phenomenal. The LSU offensive line is outstanding. The Bengal Tigers averaged 48.9 points per game, which led the country.
Defense has been a concern for the Bayou Bengal Tigers as they got gashed for a while, but the defense is still giving up only 21.7 points per game, 27th nationally. After giving up 402 rushing yards and 37 points to Ole Miss in game 10, the Bengal Tigers really improved and played pretty well defensively at the end of the season winning 56-20 over Arkansas, 50-7 over A&M, 37-10 over Georgia, and 63-28 over OU. The Oklahoma game was already decided when the Sooners scored a couple of late TDs. Safety Grant Delpit being healthy has helped the cause. Linebacker Jacob Phillips has led the Bayou Tigers with 105 tackles. Linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson has the teams in sacks with 6 1/2, and safety Jacoby Stevens added 5. Linebacker Michael Divinity, who has been struggling with personal issues and has been on and off the team this season, is back for the title game. That should help the Tigers defense even more. The awesome freshman cornerback Derek Stingley, who is the grandson of late New England Patriots wide receiver Darrell Stingley, who was paralyzed in 1978 on a hit by the Oakland Raiders safety Jack Tatum, who never apologized for it and never met with Stingley. The only time Tatum ever tried to get in touch with Stingley was for promoting his book and Stingley declined to meet with him. Darrell Stingley was a class act, and a champion of a person and a superb football player. He passed away in 2007 from complications of his paralysis. Derek remembers him well, and his father, Derek Sr., tells him every time he goes out on the field to “protect yourself.” But Derek Jr. also says you can’t worry about that when you’re out there and he plays like it. Derek has 6 interceptions this season. The other cornerback, Kary Vincent, has 4. They both will have their hands full guarding Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross respectively. It’s pick your poison with those 2. More on those 2 below.
No.3 Clemson (14-0)
On the other side, you have the great sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is 25-0 as a starter at Clemson. Lawrence entered the picture as the starter in the 4th game of the 2018 season, his freshman year, and won 11 games in a row including a 44-16 national championship victory over Alabama. Lawrence started off shaky this season, but shook that off and hasn’t thrown an interception since Oct. 19th, that’s 201 consecutive passes and 7 games. He is 250-of-370, 67%, for 3,431 yards, 36 TDs and 8 ints.. Against Ohio State, he used his underrated wheels too. He rushed for 107 yards including a spectacular 67 yard touchdown run in a 29-23 Clemson victory. Ohio State had just committed a targeting foul on Lawrence and that fired him and his team up as Lawrence’s TD run led the Upstate Tigers back from a 16-0 first half deficit to prevail over the Buckeyes, which had five red zone scoring opportunities and only converted one TD out of those chances.
Running back Travis Etienne is also a sensational football player. He has rushed for 1,536 yards, averaging 8 yards per carry, and has scored 18 times on the ground. He also caught and ran for a 53 yard TD against Ohio State, another pivotal play in that semifinal game. Tee Higgins has caught 56 passes for 1,115 yards and 13 TDs, while Justyn Ross has posted 61 receptions for 789 yards and 8 TDs. Amari Rogers is another game breaker with 28 receptions for 418 yards and 4 TDs. And Rogers is also a weapon in the punt return game. On defense, Clemson leads the nation in scoring defense giving up only 11.5 points per game. It starts with linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who has posted 97 tackles on the season, with 6 sacks and 3 interceptions. Safety Tanner Muse leads the defense with 4 ints, and corners Derion Kendrick and A.J. Terrell each have 2 ints. This is a stellar secondary though they haven’t been tested by an offense like this, so they’ll need to buckle up, as Avery said.
Final decision
Dabo Swinney and Clemson have been to the College Football Playoff 5 straight years and have won 2 out of the last 3 national championships. They’ve become a pillar in college football along with the Crimson Tide. I wouldn’t say they’ve overtaken Alabama, but they’re right there on Mount Rushmore with the Crimson Tide and its a 2 team mountain right now. Dabo is a superior motivator and he’s used the us against the world motivational tactic all season to charge up his team. He says his team has been disrespected by the media and the country, which could be true. Clemson has won 29 games in a row. That’s remarkable no matter how easy your schedule is, and they’ve certainly played some excellent teams in that stretch including the Crimson Tide and Ohio State.
But Coach O is also a master motivator. Joe and the boys would run through Fort Knox for O. He’s become a stellar college football coach. He’s a master recruiter, he made the best hire in football, college or pro, by hiring passing game coordinator Joe Brady after the 2018 season, and he keeps his team charged up for 60 minutes and always has them ready to compete.
Clemson goes for 3 out of 4 and LSU tries to win its third national championship in New Orleans. They also won it under Nick Saban in 2003 and Les Miles in 2007.
I’m expecting a spectacular football game.
But give me O, Joe and the Bengal Tigers to capture the national championship in NOLA.
O was Born on the Bayou and he’ll hoist that trophy down on the Bayou.
LSU 38, Clemson 35