This year’s College Football Playoffs has been one for the books, and the two teams that will duke it out for the national title, No. 1 Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers and No. 3 Clemson Tigers, are both powerhouses (14-0 on the season) that should make for an epic showdown.
LSU has played a phenomenal season in 2019, with storied quarterback (QB) Joe Burrow under center. The LSU Tigers are looking to win their first title in the College Football Playoff (CFP) era, with their last national championship dating back to the 2007 season in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).
Burrow has been legendary this season. The fifth-year QB transferred to LSU in 2018 following a three-year stint with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Burrow didn’t get a whole lot of playing time in Ohio, redshirting his freshman year and only playing 10 games across three seasons with the Buckeyes.
Since transferring to LSU, Burrow has compiled 71 touchdowns against 11 interceptions during his two seasons at LSU. He’s been absolutely dominant and a feel-good story for fans across the league, especially after winning the Heisman Trophy. Now, Burrow will likely be the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, proving one really good year is all you need to make an impact.
If Burrow is selected first overall, he will be the first LSU player to do so since JaMarcus Russell back in 2007. Unfortunately, Russell has been regarded as one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, so hopefully Burrow doesn’t follow that same career trajectory.
LSU enters the championship after a dominant performance against Oklahoma. The Sooners stood no chance against a potent LSU offense, as the Tigers made short work of Oklahoma 63-28. Burrow himself completed 29 of his 39 pass attempts, compiled 493 yards and seven touchdowns, tying for the record in a Bowl game (Michigan did so in 2014).
Outside of Burrow, however, the Tigers have plenty of offensive weapons at their disposal. Running back (RB) Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been a beast this season, recording 1,304 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns. Wide receivers (WR) Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson have both combined for 2,993 receiving yards and 36 touchdowns (18 each).
That’s a formidable force to deal with, but the Tigers aren’t slouches on defense either. Linebacker (LB) Jacob Phillips compiled 105 total tackles, leading the entire team. He also recorded seven tackles-for-loss.
LB K’Lavon Chaisson recorded 58 total tackles, 6.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles-for-loss. Cornerback (CB) Derek Stingley, Jr., recorded a team-high six interceptions on the season.
LSU is stacked on both sides of the ball, but if anyone is going to take down the Tigers from Louisiana, the Tigers from South Carolina might have the best odds of doing so.
Similar to LSU, Clemson is also undefeated on the season. Unlike LSU, Clemson has a national title to defend (in which they whooped up on Alabama 44-16).
Clemson has a top-notch QB of their own in sophomore Trevor Lawrence. Since he took over the starting job, Lawrence has dominated his competition, and has yet to even lose a game as a starter at the collegiate level (25-0). Lawrence isn’t a huge stats guy, ranking 19th in the nation in passing yards and fifth in touchdowns, but the sophomore is not a stranger to big games and fighting through adversity, helping Clemson rally back from a 16-0 deficit against the Buckeyes in the semifinal.
Clemson, of course, has other weapons outside of Lawrence. Junior RB Travis Etienne is first in the nation in the average yards with 8.0, along with being ninth in the nation in touchdowns (18) and seventh in yards (1,536).
Clemson’s best receiver, WR Tee Higgins, has 1,115 yards on the season and has a respectable 19.9 average yards per reception. Defensively, safety/LB Isaiah Simmons has 97 total tackles, seven sacks, 14.5 tackles-for-loss and three interceptions in 2019.
There’s no doubt that Clemson has the talent and the ability to keep pace with LSU, and I think this game will come down to the wire. But LSU has the emotional momentum since a person close to the program died just recently. The LSU Tigers are a steamroller, metaphorically, and I don’t think anybody can really stop them.
