3 Reasons Why the LSU Tigers Will Win the National Championship

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG

What has happened in Baton Rouge throughout the 2019 college football season has been historic. Be it a team of destiny or an all-time great kicking off the beginning of something special that could evolve into the realm of dynasties, LSU has been an unstoppable force this year having taken on six Top 10 ranked teams on the way to a No. 1 ranking and a 14-0, 8-0 SEC, record. For this year’s Tigers to be remembered as an all-time great, there is one more obstacle to pass, the defending national championship Clemson Tigers.

In a year where this LSU football team has rewritten the record books and taken the program to new heights, it seems fitting that the proverbial stamp on the season would be a win against Clemson. The Tigers (14-0, 8-0 ACC) have won two of the last three National Championship Games setting forth their own path towards being labeled a dynasty. Over the past two seasons, Clemson has put together an unbeaten streak through 29 games entering the championship game off a 29-23 come-from-behind win against No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. The Tigers have dominated on both sides of the ball with the country’s second-rated total defense (264 ypg) and the third-best offense (538 yards) ready to upend LSU for their third national championship in four years.

But LSU is no ordinary team and has the scheme and talent to go toe-to-toe with Clemson.

Three Reasons Why LSU Will Win the National Championship Game

QB Joe Burrow

Head to head, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow has outperformed his Clemson counterpart Trevor Lawrence in every way possible. In his own right, Lawrence has been prolific passing for 3,431 yards, third best in the ACC, with 36 touchdowns against eight interceptions while hitting his targets at a 67.6 percent rate. While Lawrence has completed 250 of 370 passes, Burrow has connected on 371 passes off 478 attempts completing the task at a 77.6 percentage rate. Burrow not only led his conference in passing but is second in the nation to Washington State’s Anthony Gordon (5,579 yards) with 5,208 yards while leading the FBS ranks with 55 touchdowns tossed.

In big games, Burrow has risen to the challenge nailing then No. 9 Texas for 471 yards and five touchdowns, No. 3 Alabama for 393 yards with three scores, No. 4 Georgia for 349 yards with four touchdowns, and completely tore apart No. 4 Oklahoma in the playoff semifinal with 493 passing yards and seven touchdowns tossed.

Since a poor outing against Louisville in Clemson’s seventh game of the season, Lawrence has righted the proverbial ship tossing 22 touchdown passes without a pick. But it is tough to say that Lawrence has shown up big in big games. On the season he has just two 300-yard passing games (Syracuse and Virginia) and was off-target against Ohio State completing 54.5 percent of his passes for 259 yards with two touchdowns. Lawrence’s 107 yards off 16 carries with a long of 67 was the difference maker in Clemson’s win over Ohio State to advance.

LSU’s Offensive Skill Positions

One cannot take away from the season Clemson running back Travis Etienne has produced ending seventh in the nation with 1,536 yards and 18 touchdowns, but strength of schedule should be a factor in understanding what has transpired. The Tigers have played three ranked teams all season, two that will be lucky to be ranked at season’s end (Texas A&M and Virginia). Until playing Ohio State, A&M was the only team ranked in the Top 30 in total defense. Etienne produced 53 yards off 16 carries against A&M and 36 yards off 10 totes against Ohio State with one touchdown. Syracuse, Charlotte, North Carolina, and South Carolina each kept Etienne under 76 yards.

Although limited with a hamstring injury against Oklahoma, Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been the man for LSU in big games. Against No. 7 Florida, the running back romped for 134 yards with two scores off 13 totes and two weeks later ripped Auburn for 136 yards on 26 carries with a score. In the shootout against Alabama, Edwards carried the rock 20 times for 103 yards with a season-tying high of three touchdowns.

Clemson has two very talented receivers in Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins, but LSU has three that have to be accounted for in Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, and Terrace Marshall (43 rec./625 yards/12 TDs) and that does not include tight end Thaddeus Moss (42/534/2). Chase and Jefferson are second and third respectfully in the nation in receiving yards (1,559-1,434) with each crossing the goal line 18 times. Tee Higgins is 25th in the FBS ranks in receiving yards with 1,115 yards and 13 touchdowns.

LSU’s Defense

On paper, Clemson has one of the best defenses in the nation holding down teams to 264 yards per game, but what does that mean in a real way? Against the nation’s fifth best offense, Ohio State, the Tigers allowed 516 yards of offense – 196 rushing and 320 passing. Ohio State was able to convert on all three red zone opportunities and extended drives on 7 of 18 chances converting on third down.

Seeing Clemson, this will be LSU’s third time this season facing a Top 14 offense (Oklahoma, Alabama, and Texas). LSU just held the nation’s fourth best offense to 322 total yards, 97 rushing and 225 passing. With talented corners Kristian Fulton and Derek Stingley on the outside covering Ross and Higgins, LSU will have opportunities to get to Lawrence in the pocket. The big question, can LSU limit Lawrence’s effectiveness with his legs, something Ohio State was not able to do. Sooners’ dual-threat Jalen Hurts tried to break loose later in the game on the ground against LSU but was still held to 43 yards on 14 attempts but did score twice.

Clemson and LSU put up near identical stats against the run with Clemson coming out slightly better – 113 yards per game to LSU’s 118. Buckeyes’ running back J.K. Dobbins rolled against Clemson’s run defense for 174 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown. The Sooners’ leading rusher was Hurts with 43 total yards. Running back Kennedy Brooks was stopped at 35 net yards on 10 carries with one touchdown.

*Click the link for the perspective going the other way:

3 Reasons Why the Clemson Tigers Will Win the National Championship

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Photo credit: UPI.com; No. 9 Joe Burrow