Monday, Jan. 13, the battle of the Clemson Tigers taking on LSU in the College Football Playoff National Championship. This season marked the 150 anniversary of college football; however, this is only the sixth championship game since the playoff was created in the 2014 season.
Looking for a chance to repeat as champions, the Clemson Tigers finished the regular season 13-0 and were selected to the third seed in the College Football Playoff. Led by another electrifying performance by sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the Tigers went on to beat undefeated Ohio State in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl 29-23. Lawrence threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns. He even had more rushing yards than Travis Etienne, junior running back for Clemson, with 106 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. A late interception by junior safety, Nolan Turner, punched Clemson’s ticket to New Orleans to play LSU in the National Championship.
This has been a historic season for LSU quarterback, Joe Burrow. Burrow, after transferring from Ohio State, has exploded onto the scene in Baton Rouge under head coach, Ed Oregeron. “Burreaux” (the Creole spelling of Burrow) now holds three SEC records including single season passing record (55), single season passing yards (5,208), and single season pass completion percentage (77.6). To top off a historic season, “Joe Cool” won the Heisman Trophy, a prestigious award given annually to the outstanding player in NCAA football. LSU defeated Oklahoma in the Chic-Fil-A Peach Bowl by a whopping score of 68-23 where Burrow threw for 493 yards and seven touchdowns which is a Peach Bowl record.
With the game being played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, this would give a home game atmosphere to Coach Oregeron and the LSU Tigers. However, Lawrence has not lost a game in his collegiate career with Clemson, currently holding a 29 game win streak. This should be one for the ages, a true classic in the bayou.