LSU just capped off a remarkable 2019 season for the ages by dispatching the defending National Champion Clemson Tigers in New Orleans on Monday night. The 42-25 triumph made it 4 Football National Titles in total for the program. The 15-0 season culminated with impressive victories over #4 Oklahoma & #3 Clemson in the CFP and has left us to ponder the notion of just how good the 2019 LSU Tigers really were.
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The only question left to answer really is: Did LSU just turn in the greatest single season in college football history? There has been much chatter out there about the cumulative season turned in by the Tigers as a team & individually by Heisman-winner Joe Burrow. In Burrow's case I would say yes. The season he just turned in was truly incredible. It was a whole other level of QB play that we just haven't really seen before at the college level. The efficiency, the numbers, and against the level of competition - is truly something to behold. As for LSU's 2019 season, the hypotheticals about where this team stands in the all-time greats discussion is warranted.
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The level of competition, the level of efficiency, and the number of blowouts certainly give LSU a legitimate case. In many instances, and a lot of years, there is a kind of "present-bias" if you will - as a lot of times we may be quick to pronounce the current team or individual performance that we just witnessed as the greatest of all-time. I don't believe that to be the case with this year's LSU season. Well then, the only other question to ask is - was it the greatest season of all-time? Let's take a look at the Tigers' 2019 season by the numbers & let you be the judge:
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7 - Number of teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game that LSU defeated this year
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+15.2 - Average margin of victory in those 7 games against teams ranked in the top 10
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(114-69) - Combined record of LSU's 14 FBS opponents in 2019
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.623% - Winning Percentage of those 14 opponents
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48.4 - Points scored per game for the season
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42.6 - Points scored per game against opponents ranked in the top 10
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47.0 - Points scored per game against the 4 opponents they faced that were ranked in the top 5
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+26.53 - Average Margin of Victory for the season
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568.4 - Total Offensive Yards Per Game for the season
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+224.9 - Average amount of yards per game LSU outgained their opponents by for the season
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95 - total # of touchdowns scored by the Tigers
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42+ - Points scored by LSU in 12 of their 15 games
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6 - Number of top-30 defenses faced during the season
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4 - Number of top-20 defenses faced during the season
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1st - Where LSU finished the season ranked in each of the following: total offense*, passing offense*, yards per game*, yards per play*, passing touchdowns*, completion %*, passer rating*, total touchdowns scored*, and points per game*
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In addition to all of those remarkable numbers, here is a quick look at the results from the 7 games against teams ranked in the top 10, just to put it in one quick picture how many big-time programs they took down this year -
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(Rankings in ( ) are from where each team was ranked at the time of the game)
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@ (9) Texas (8-5) W 45-38
vs (7) Florida (11-2) W 42-28
vs (9) Auburn (9-4) W 23-20
@ (2) Alabama (11-2) W 46-41
vs (4) Georgia (12-2) W 37-10*
vs (4) Oklahoma (12-2) W 63-28***
vs (3) Clemson (14-1) W 42-25 🏆
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*-SEC Title Game
***-Peach Bowl CFP Semifinal
🏆-National Championship Game
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In the end, I believe those are some pretty remarkable numbers. Most teams never play 7 teams ranked in the top 10 in one season, may be 3 or 4. It's going to be difficult for any teams of the near future at the very least, to one-up that barrage of impressive victories. So, what do you think, where do you rank the 2019 LSU Tigers amongst the all-time greats? I'd love to get your thoughts below in the comments section. Greatest ever? Top 5? Overrated? As always, I appreciate all of the support.
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Whether they are the greatest of all-time or not, one thing is for certain though, the 2019 LSU Tigers will certainly go down in history.
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