» Preview of College Football playoff semifinals,
PEACH BOWL
No. 1 LSU (13-0, SEC champions) vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (12-1, Big 12 champions) Atlanta 4 p.m. ET, Dec. 28 ESPN
TOP PLAYERS
LSU: QB Joe Burrow, 4,715 yards passing, SEC-record 48 touchdowns, 77.9 completion percentage. Oklahoma: QB Jalen Hurts, 3,634 yards passing, 32 touchdowns, 71.8 completion percentage, 1,255 yards rushing, 18 TDs.
NOTABLE
LSU: Making its first appearance in the College Football Playoff. Oklahoma: Has yet to get past the semifinals in three previous playoff appearances.
LAST TIME
LSU defeated Oklahoma 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl for the BCS national championships (Jan. 4, 2004)
BOWL HISTORY
LSU: Appearing in its 51st NCAA-sanctioned bowl game. This will be the Tigers’ fifth trip to the Peach Bowl, their last coming in 2005 when they routed Miami 40-3. Oklahoma: The 53rd postseason game for the Sooners, but their first appearance in the Peach Bowl.
QUOTABLE
LSU: “Anytime, anywhere, anybody, we ready to play,” coach Ed Orgeron Oklahoma: “It’s all about this team, this match-up right now,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “You’re going to play great teams, You have to play really well to beat the other teams. That’s how it should be. This is important. It’s a good accomplishment. But it’s certainly not our end goal.”
KEY STATS
LSU: Burrow’s 4,715 passing yards and nation-leading 48 touchdown passes are Southeastern Conference records. He is the most accurate passer in the country, at 77.9%, and has thrown just six interceptions. Oklahoma: Hurts became the third FBS player ever to record 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards by the 11th game of a season, and he joined 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow as the only players since 1996 with at least 32 passing TDs and 18 rushing TDs. Hurts leads the nation in points responsible for per game (23.7) and touchdowns accounted for (51). He has 4,889 yards of total offense (3,634 passing, 1,255 rushing).
HEISMAN WINNER
Quarterback Joe Burrow became LSU’s second Heisman winner and first since running back Billy Cannon in 1959. The 60-year gap between Heisman winners is the longest for any school with multiple recipients. Burrow was just the second Heisman finalist for LSU since candidates began being invited to New York for the presentation ceremony in 1982, and the first offensive player from the Tigers. The last finalist from LSU was defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, who finished fifth in the voting in 2011.
FIESTA BOWL
No. 2 Ohio State (13-0, Big Ten champions) vs. No. 3 Clemson (13-0, ACC champions) Glendale, Ariz. 8 p.m. ET, Dec. 28 ESPN
TOP PLAYERS
Clemson: QB Trevor Lawrence, 3,172 yards and 34 TDs passing with eight interceptions; RB Travis Etienne, 1,386 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing; WR Tee Higgins 52 receptions, 1,082 yards and 13 touchdowns. Ohio State: RB J.K. Dobbins, 1,829 yards rushing and 20 TDs; DE Chase Young, 16 1/2 sacks.
NOTABLE
Clemson: The reigning national champion Tigers have won 28 straight games and are making their fifth straight College Football Playoff appearance. Clemson has won two of the past three national championships under coach Dabo Swinney. The Tigers are No. 3 in the CFP rankings. Ohio State: The Buckeyes return to the CFP for the first time in three years after clinching a third straight Big Ten title with a 34-21 win over No. 10 Wisconsin. Ohio State dropped to No. 2 in the CFP rankings behind LSU. The Buckeyes are making their ninth Fiesta Bowl appearance, most of any team.
LAST TIME
Clemson 31, Ohio State, 0. (2016 Fiesta Bowl, CFP semifinal)
BOWL HISTORY
Clemson: 45th bowl appearance, 18th straight. Ohio State: 51st bowl appearance, eighth straight.
QUOTABLE
Clemson: “They’ve been unbelievable, one of the most dominant teams, every week, all year long, and that’s an unbelievable accomplishment,” Dabo Swinney said of Ohio State. Ohio State: “They’re the defending champs and they haven’t lost since,” coach Ryan Day said of Clemson. “What they do on defense and what Brent Venables has done year in and year out, they’re the best defense in the country. If you look over the last five to 10 years, you can make a case that they are the best.”
KEY STATS
Clemson: The defending national champions are owners of the longest winning streak in the nation. The Tigers have won five consecutive ACC championships. Ohio State: Young’s school-record 16.5 sacks, in 11 games, lead the nation and are the most by a Big Ten player in 21 years. He is first in the nation in tackles for loss per game (1.91) and tied for fourth with 21 tackles for loss, including 16 solo, for minus-129 yards (secondbest in the country).