Burrow leads LSU in rout of Georgia
ATLANTA » Joe Burrow collected a shiny award as the game’s MVP.
LSU’s fans had another trophy on their minds.
“Heisman! Heisman! Heisman!” they chanted.
The coronation is likely complete.
Burrow turned in another dazzling performance on the big stage, leading No. 1 LSU to a spot in the College Football Playoff with a 37-10 rout of No. 4 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday.
“Joe is the heartbeat of this team,” running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire said.
The Tigers, going for their first national title since 2007 season, will either return to Atlanta or head west to suburban Phoenix for a semifinal game on Dec. 28. They surely made a persuasive case to be the top overall seed when the four-team field. and pairings are announced Sunday.
Burrow was all over the stat sheet for LSU (13-0, No. 2 CFP). He threw for
349 yards and four touchdowns. He was the Tigers’ second-leading rusher with 41 yards on 11 carries, often leaving the Bulldogs grasping at air as he twirled this way and that. He even caught a pass on a ball that was batted down at the line and wound up his arms, taking off for a 16yard gain.
‘”He’s a great athlete, man,” Georgia safety J.R. Reed said. “We had a lot of plays out there we were supposed to make, and he’d just squeeze out of it.”
The Heisman-worthy moment came late in the third quarter. With Georgia (11-2, No 4 CFP) bringing the heat, Burrow spun to his left to get away from lineman Travon Walker, whirled back to his right to send Walker sprawling to the turf, then delivered a pass on the run while sprinting toward the LSU sideline with another defender in hot pursuit.
Justin Jefferson hauled in the throw just beyond midfield and took off down to the Bulldogs 9 for a 71yard play. Three plays later, Burrow delivered his third TD pass of the game, hooking up with Terrace Marshall Jr., on a 4-yard touchdown pass that essentially finished off the Bulldogs.
“It was all improvised,” Burrow said. “Justin ran a 6-yard hitch route and saw me scrambling and took off deep. We got a great feel for each other. I knew exactly where he was going to be when I got out of there.”
Burrow wasn’t done. Derek Stingley’s second pick of Jake Fromm turned the ball back over to the prolific LSU offense at the 13, and Burrow wasted no time finding Jefferson for an 8-yard TD in the waning seconds of the third quarter to send many in the predominantly Georgia crowd heading for the exits.