Gunslingers:
Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence poised to put on show for national title.
CLEMSON, S.C. – EJ Manuel is about as excited as one can be for a national championship game in which his only rooting interest is for a showdown of epic proportions.
The former NFL and Florida State quarterback plans to live vicariously through Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence, the record-setting quarterbacks for LSU and Clemson, respectively.
“As an analyst, this is what you hope for,” said Manuel, who works as a college football analyst for ESPN and the ACC Network. “And when you have two big-name quarterbacks like Burrow and Lawrence matching up, that’s all any college football fan could ask for.”
Ask and ye shall receive. The College Football Playoff title game, set for Jan. 13 in the Superdome in New Orleans, will feature NFL talent all over the field, but rest assured that this battle royal between a pair of undefeated, dominant teams will be defined by the quarterbacks.
LSU’s Burrow is 23 and hoping to cap with a victory his circuitous journey from a threeyear backup at Ohio State to a graduate transfer sensation on the bayou.
He’s expected to be the No. 1 selection in the NFL draft in April.
Clemson’s Lawrence is only 20 but already has steered his Tigers to the promised land, going 25-0 as a starter in two seasons, including a 44-16 victory against Alabama in last year’s championship game. He’s expected to be the No. 1 selection in the 2021 NFL draft.
“This game is as close as you’ll get to seeing NFL talent in college,” Manuel said. “Both quarterbacks have great receivers, a tremendous offensive line and offensive coordinators who like to throw the football down the field. It should be one for the ages.”
Ironically, both quarterbacks are coming off performances for the ages.
Burrow passed for 493 yards with seven touchdowns in LSU’s 63-28 demolition of Oklahoma in one College Football Playoff semifinal; Lawrence passed for 259 yards and rushed for a career-high 107 in Clemson’s 29-23 win against Ohio State in the other.
Both quarterbacks have played best down the season’s homestretch.
During his last eight games, Lawrence has completed 71.7% of his pass attempts and thrown for 22 touchdowns with no interceptions. He also has attempted a school-record 202 consecutive passes without an interception.
During that same span, Burrow has completed 76.2% of his passes and thrown for 26 touchdowns with three interceptions.
He has passed for 2,724 yards in LSU’s past eight games, an average of 340.5 yards.
Burrow led the nation in completion percentage, connecting on 77.6% of his throws, and will enter his final game this season with 55 touchdown passes – seven more than any other quarterback in the country.
“Some of the throws Joe
made in that last game, I was in awe,” Manuel said. “It’s rare you see that in games. It’s one thing to do it in practice, when if you get picked it doesn’t matter. But it’s another thing to do it in a game with 20 million people watching.”
Manuel was impressed with the way Lawrence absorbed a helmet-to-helmet hit and crunching tackle from Ohio State defenders and bounced back with a touchdown pass and 67-yard touchdown run in the Tigers’ next nine plays.
“When I first saw him get folded up like that, I thought ‘Oh no,’ but he came back and a few plays later ripped off that big run,” Manuel said.
“What a sequence of plays. I think he grew up a lot in that moment.”
Now the stage is set for a test of even greater magnitude, with the quarterbacks who first met last summer at the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, Louisiana, taking center stage.
“We got to spend some time together,” Burrow said. “That was a fun week. He’s a superfluid guy for how big he is. He’s fun to watch. You can tell he’s a great competitor, a tough guy. I respect those kinds of guys.” The feeling is mutual.
“I like a lot of things about his game,” Lawrence said of Burrow. “He can extend plays and has a good feel for pressure and doesn’t take too many sacks. His pocket presence is really good, his accuracy, obviously, and he’s pretty mobile, too.” Bottom line?
A shootout in the Superdome could be in the offing.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Swinney said. “A great matchup, two great quarterbacks. That’s the way a championship game ought to be.”