Burrow completes historic season with national championship
NEW ORLEANS >> It’s increasingly rare when a game the magnitude of the College Football Playoff National Championship actually lives up to the hype.
For the most part, Clemson vs. LSU did just that and then some on Monday night at the MercedesBenz Superdome, with the majority of the 76,885 in attendance going home happy after a 42-25 LSU victory in its backyard capped off the first 15-win season in SEC history and secured the fourth national title in program history.
“You know, I talked to the team about the focus all week was just beat Clemson, not think of the magnitude, or hey, we’re going to win the National Championship, all that, what was going to happen,” said LSU head coach Ed Orgeron. “Our guys just followed it, and our focus has been one game at a time, one day at a time, and our guys did a tremendous job. Now I think that this team is going to be mentioned as one of the greatest teams in college football history, 15-0, one of the greatest teams in LSU history, led by some of the greatest players; give them all the credit.”
It wasn’t so much the overall matchup that delivered as it was
the highly-anticipated quarterback battle between the two projected first overall picks in the next two NFL Drafts; Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence entered the game with a spotless 25-0 record as a starter, while LSU’s Joe Burrow, who is almost surely going to be taken No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals this April, had broken a cavalcade of records this season en route to winning the Heisman Trophy as college football’s best player.
Burrow separated himself as the game went on, however, ultimately completing 31 of his 49 passes for 463 yards, five touchdown passes — he also ran for another score — and no interceptions. Once a little used quarterback stuck behind both J.T. Barrett and Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State, the 23-year-old joined the Tigers as a graduate transfer prior to the 2018 season, and the rest is seemingly history.
“Feels good. I don’t know what else to say,” offered Burrow. “I mean, there’s been so many people that have come into this, from people that have helped me along my journey from Ohio, Louisiana, everywhere. We couldn’t have done it with a better group of guys, not just football players but great, great men that I just feel blessed to be a part of this.”
Burrow’s throws were on the money nearly all night, and he particularly seemed to establish a connection with star receiver with Ja’Marr
Chase, who finished with nine catches for a whopping 221 yards and two touchdown receptions after nothing was thrown his way early on.
“The first couple series I didn’t think there was any way they were just going to play man (coverage) with Ja’Marr, so I wasn’t really looking his way,” Burrow said. “Then I got back to the sideline after the second drive and I was like they really are playing man-to-man with Ja’Marr, so we started going to him heavy and he plays so well, and that’s just the kind of guy he is. He’s worked so hard for that, all of our guys.”
It was Burrow who remained the center of attention after the game, however, given that Monday night’s performance established new records for the most touchdown passes in FBS history in a single season, most touchdowns responsible for in FBS history, most touchdowns responsible for in a title game and most passing yards in a title game.
He wasn’t ready to reflect
on it all just yet, however.
“Not yet,” he said. “We’re still celebrating. Give us a couple of days. We’ve got tonight, we’ve got the rest of this week. We’re going to enjoy this one. A lot of work was put into this that nobody ever saw, Saturdays, Sundays, seven days a week for 12 months. This is special.”
The vibe was decidedly different with Lawrence in the press conference after the game, although he was gracious in defeat with his praise of his counterpart.
“I mean, he’s great,” Lawrence said. “He’s unbelievable. He’s a great player. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and just his journey, and really just their whole team. I’ve got a lot of respect for them. Like Coach said, they play with a lot of character and class and hats off to them. They beat us tonight, and there were no excuses, but yeah, he played great for sure.”
As for Lawrence’s performance, it was a rare off night; he completed just 18 of his 37
passes — his 13 overthrows on the night tied for the most by any FBS player this season — for 234 yards and no touchdowns, although he did get into the end zone on one of his ten carries on the game.
It was, of course, the worst possible time for his first career loss.
“I just told him to keep his head up,” said Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney of his sophomore signalcaller. “I told him I loved him and that, hey, listen, you’ve got — this is a great opportunity to lead and to respond. You know, he’s had so much good. We all have. We’ve had so much just unbelievable success, so many great things, and he’s never lost a game.
“I mean, he’s — and he’s not going to lose many. I’ll go ahead and tell you that right now. He ain’t going to lose many. He’s going to be a hard guy to beat forever because he’s special. And he had a tough night tonight. For whatever reason, just didn’t have his best night.”