QUEST FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP STARTS AT QUARTERBACK
THE FOUR QUARTERBACKS to lead their teams to the College Football Playoff have combined to throw 154 touchdown passes this season — and play for seven schools during their careers.
This year’s playoff matches No. 1 LSU, with Heisman Trophy front-runner Joe Burrow, against No. 4 Oklahoma, led by dual-threat star Jalen Hurts, at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Dec. 28. Burrow began his career at Ohio State and Hurts is making his fourth appearance in the playoff, the first three with Alabama.
The other semifinal matches No. 2 Ohio State, with Justin Fields and his 50 total touchdowns, and No. 3 Clemson, led by sensational sophomore Trevor Lawrence. Fields played his first college season at Georgia last year while Lawrence was leading the Tigers to a national championship as a freshman.
‘’I totally believe you have to have very good quarterback play to get into the playoffs and to eventually win it all,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “It’s such an important position and there’s too many good ones out there.’’
The final four fell into place thanks to the favorites winning their conference championship games and Utah losing the Pac-12 title game to Oregon. That left three undefeated Power Five champions, a fourth with one loss and nobody else with a legitimate case to claim a spot.
The intrigue was about the top seed, knowing Clemson was likely locked into No. 3. The Tigers have been mauling opponents for the last two months, but the Atlantic Coast Conference has not provided Clemson any top-flight competition. Big Ten champion Ohio State has five victories against CFP-ranked teams, including Wisconsin twice. Southeastern Conference champ LSU has four, all of which were ranked in the top 13. Clemson’s only game against a team that made the committee’s final rankings was its 62-17 victory Saturday against Virginia.
Still, drawing Clemson, which hasn’t lost since the 2017 playoff semifinals against Alabama, rather than an Oklahoma team with five victories by a touchdown or less certainly seems like a tougher task for the Buckeyes (13-0). Clemson (13-0) is making its fifth straight playoff appearance, tying Alabama for the most.
LSU (13-0) is in the playoff for the first time, the only newbie in the field. Burrow has been a revelation, completing 78% of his passes for 48 touchdowns and 4,15 yards.
“Joe’s one of the most important recruits we’ve had at LSU,” Tigers coach Ed Orgeron said.
Ohio State is making its third playoff appearance and first since 2016 after just missing out the previous two seasons. The Buckeyes won the first playoff championship in 2014. Their last appearance came after the 2016 season, when they were shut out by Clemson in the semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl. That was all under coach Urban Meyer. Now Ryan Day leads Ohio State, and in his first season as Meyer’s successor the Buckeyes have won each of their games by double-digit margins.
Fields has been the catalyst. The sophomore has thrown 40 touchdown passes and just one interception, and run for another 10 touchdowns.
The Buckeyes enter the playoff with a 19-game winning streak, second only to Clemson’s streak of 28 straight victories.
Lawrence has been the starter for 24 of those games. After a little bit of a slow start this season, he’s been spectacular, throwing for 34 touchdowns and running for seven more.
“Trevor Lawrence is as good a quarterback as there is in the country, and he’s been on the biggest stages and obviously one of the winningest quarterbacks that will go down in the history of college football when it’s all said and done,” Day said.
Big 12 champion Oklahoma (12-1) is in the playoff for the fourth time, but has yet to win a game. This will be the third consecutive year the Sooners face an SEC team. Last year, Hurts was on the other side, backing up Tua Tagovailoa, when Oklahoma lost to Alabama in the Orange Bowl.
This season at Oklahoma, Hurts has followed the last two Heisman Trophy winners with a season worthy of consideration. The senior has passed for 32 touchdowns and run for 1,255 yards and 18 scores.
Oklahoma and LSU have split two previous meetings: The Sooners won the 1950 Sugar Bowl and the Tigers won the BCS championship game at the Sugar Bowl in 2004.