As more than 60,000 Cajuns celebrated deeply into the Louisiana night, media pundits across America were beginning to stamp the 2019 Bengal Tigers squad as the best team in the history of college football. They may be right. The 42-25 dismantling of the defending national champs from Clemson on Monday night was the icing on the cake for LSU's magical season. A perfect 15-0 with the Bengal Tigers third national title since 2003 was certainly something the school can hang its hat on.
Then there is quarterback Joe Burrow. The 6'-2" transfer from Ohio State who took the Bengals to the Promised Land with the greatest season ever recorded by a college quarterback will likely be the NFL's top draft choice in April.
His uncanny ability to escape pressure plus his tremendous accuracy throwing the football has been on display since the season started. His stats are super-human. 5671 yards passing with 60 touchdown passes and only 6 interceptions in fifteen games. There have been quarterbacks who have had greater careers than Burrow, but none has ever had a season like the one he capped in thge National Championship Game.
I'm not ready to hang the "GOAT" moniker on Burrow, but I will very likely proclaim LSU as the greatest team in college football history. I don't believe many people would argue with the fact that Clemson is the best program in college football right now. And LSU totally dismantled the Tigers on Monday night. The Bengals shredded the nation's best scoring defense for 42 points and 628 total yards of offense. They put those amazing numbers up without a single turnover in the game.
Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney was obviously disappointed in the outcome but even he would say LSU is almost unbeatable at the college level. He would also say his team did not play well, especially sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence and his band of Tigers started beautifully, building an early 17-7 lead. However a 21 point second quarter by LSU set the tone for the rest of the game. Lawrence finished with 234 yards with no touchdown passes which was totally eclipsed by Joe Burrow.
Clemson finishes 14-1 and in the past four seasons has fashioned a record of 55-4 with a pair of national titles. In fact, Clemson is ranked number one in ESPN's "Way Too Early College Football Poll" for 2020. That absolutely means nothing in the great scheme of things but I can tell you this; The victory on Monday night will make LSU Coach Ed Orgeron a much richer man. His base salary of around 4 Million dollars annually will be increased by 1.2 million dollars in bonuses after the Bengal Tigers hoisted the championship trophy. And that is the way it should be.
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com