‘Burreaux’ in charge:
LSU’s QB has found a home in Cajun country and a spot in school’s football lore.
BATON ROUGE, La. – He has authored the greatest season for a quarterback in LSU history and one of the best in Southeastern Conference history.
He will try to lead the Tigers to their first SEC championship since 2011 on Dec. 7 against Georgia.
On Dec. 14, he is favored to win LSU’s first Heisman Trophy since 1959.
And Joe Burrow and LSU are two wins away from playing for just their fourth national championship in history on Jan. 13. The national semifinals are on Dec. 28 in Atlanta and Glendale, Arizona.
So, apparently, if he wants to design his own wardrobe on game day, he can. And he did. Burrow wore a new, special edition jersey with “Burreaux” on the back during Senior Night ceremonies before LSU’s game last weekend against Texas A&M at Tiger Stadium.
“He can do what he wants,” coach Ed Orgeron said after Burrow directed the Tigers to a 50-7 victory for just their third perfect regular season in school history at 12-0.
“If he wanted to, yeah,” Orgeron said when asked if Burrow could have worn his new jersey in the game. He did just watch Burrow complete 23 of 32 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns while reaching 4,366 yards on the season to break the SEC’s all-time passing mark for a season of 4,275 held by Kentucky’s Tim Couch since 1998.
Burrow, who also tied the SEC record for TD passes in a season with 44, did not even ask Orgeron if he could change his wardrobe when he came up with the idea last week.
“Um, no,” Burrow said laughing. “I talked to everyone else, though. It came to me early in the week, and I went to our equipment guys to see if they could get it done. I just thought it would be an awesome tribute to the state and to the university. And I think it was great.”
After the plan was set, and he had the new special edition jersey, he let Orgeron know. “Hell, yeah,” Orgeron said. How could he argue? Burrow has a chance to become the NCAA’s No. 1 completion percentage passer in history as he is currently at .783 on 314 of 401 passing.
The record is .767 set by Texas’ Colt McCoy in 2008. He is also No. 2 in the nation in passing efficiency at 203 and in passing yards per game at 363.8 and has LSU No. 2 in the nation in total offense at 560.2 yards per game.
“Joe’s meant a lot to Louisiana, and Louisiana’s very proud of LSU football,” Orgeron said. “People in Louisiana have heart man. When they love you, they love you. They love Joe, and Joe loves them.”
Orgeron also liked the idea of the Cajun spelling of Burrow.
“It was to show his appreciation for the state of Louisiana and LSU and what they’ve done for him and more or less what he’s done for us,” he said. “The guy’s been phenomenal.”
Burrow made another executive decision after the game. He ran over to the student section at the north end of the stadium to show his appreciation for them. And also to introduce himself in a way.
“Yeah, so, I mean, obviously, I don’t go to class because I take online classes,” said Burrow, a Ohio State graduate in 2018 who is in a graduate program at LSU and only needs a minimum of hours a semester.
“So I don’t get to see any of those people,” he said. “And I just wanted to kind of see them for the first time.
“And just thank them for coming to the games and for making the best atmosphere in the country.”
It was a natural reciprocation. Because Burrow continues to hear from his father, Jimmy, and mother, Robin, after every weekend about how often LSU fans come up to them and thank them for sending Joe to LSU.
“And my family’s like, ‘Well, thanks for resurrecting my career and everything you have done for me,’ ” said Burrow, who rode the bench at Ohio State in 2016 and ’17 after redshirting in 2015. “So it’s been a dream come true. It really has. It has surpassed all my expectations.”
Burrow’s father couldn’t agree more.
“Great decision to come to LSU,” he said. “Our whole family will love this place forever.”
Joe Burrow will never forget last weekend, his two seasons at LSU, and his one meeting with thousands of students.
“Yeah, it kind of hit me when I was jogging off the field for the last time,” said Burrow, who was taken out of the game early in the fourth quarter with the Tigers up 41-7. “This is the best atmosphere in the country. Saturday night in Death Valley, there’s nothing like it. And I’m going to miss it with all my heart. It’s given everything to me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Burrow, who grew up in The Plains, Ohio, visualized doing it for Ohio State. But that scarlet and gray has been colored purple and gold.
“Since I was 10 years old, this is what I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “I’ve said in the past, my goal was never to be the quarterback of an NFL team. I wanted to be the quarterback of a top 10 team playing in the national title game. And we have a chance to do that. This is a dream come true for me.”