Perfect season: complete ✅@LSUfootball wins the #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/uHZ1QqunpZ
— ESPN (@espn) January 14, 2020
There was Joe Burrow, getting rid of the ball in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Monday night as quickly as Saints quarterback Drew Brees has done here on so many Sundays.
There was the LSU quarterback, scrambling for three first downs and a touchdown in a critical second-quarter rally when No. 1 LSU found itself trailing for the first time since Oct. 22 against Florida, three months and 33 quarters ago. And there was LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, doing such a number on All-ACC corner A.J. Terrell, Clemson’s best defensive back, that Clemson moved Terrell off of him in the second half.
With its 42-25 victory over No. 3 Clemson, a team that had won its previous 29 games over 741 days, LSU made its pitch to stand among the greatest teams in 150 years of college football. This LSU team that fought to the program’s fourth national championship played the game the way it has played all season — a brand of decidedly 21st-century football replete with a lot of big plays, a passing game as unstoppable as it is irresistible and a quarterback who tortured Clemson with his arm and, when LSU really needed it, his feet.
“This team is going to be mentioned as one of the greatest teams in college football history,” Orgeron said, “15-0, as one of the greatest teams in LSU history.
“But that’s for you guys to decide.”