For the first quarter & 4:22 of last night's National Title showdown between two unbeaten juggernauts in #1 LSU & defending National Champion, #3 Clemson, the latter had everything going to script. Clemson pressured Joe Burrow up the middle & off the edges and had some success disrupting LSU's timing. Meanwhile, Clemson hit on some big plays & took a 17-7 lead at the 10:38 mark of the 2nd quarter on a Tee Higgins 36 yard burst.
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Then Joe Burrow & co. woke up. Burrow had already hit Biletnikoff Award-winner, Ja'Marr Chase for a 52 yard score in the 1st quarter that finally got LSU going, but from that point, they outscored Clemson 21-0 to close out the half.
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Two key plays contributed to LSU's surge - the first being a completion in Clemson territory to HB Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of the backfield that went for a substantial gain. It appeared during replays that his right hand might have touched down out of bounds before he maneuvered up the sidelines for an additional chunk of yardage. It was a bit surprising to see the officials pass on reviewing the play for some reason. No doubt about it, it was a big momentum play, it is just a bit puzzling to not have a review.
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The other key play had nothing to do with the officials, but the ineptitude of the Clemson secondary. After getting the ball back with a 21-17 lead, LSU faced a 3rd & 19 from their own 21 yard line with just 2:23 to go in the half. Burrow fired to an open receiver up the right seam, but the ball was underthrown amidst pressure from the LBs, and Derion Kendrick never attempted to locate the ball, and instead took out WR Terrance Marshall Jr while the ball was still about 5 yards away from the receiver for an obvious pass interference penalty that sparked LSU to an 11- play, 95 yard drive that pushed the lead to 28-17 just seconds before halftime.
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LSU started slow, withstood the initial surge from Clemson, and were able to get some things going on both sides of the ball as the second quarter wore on. One of the big takeaways of the first half was Clemson's inability to slow talented WR Ja'Marr Chase, who torched them for a 6-162-2 statline through the first 30 minutes.
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As expected, the defending Champions did what defending Champs do and they picked themselves up off the canvas and threw a big time counterpunch. After shutting down LSU's opening possession of the second half, Clemson went 50 yards in 6 plays for a quick TD - including 4 rushes for 16 yards and a score from HB Travis Etienne. After the ensuing 2-point conversion, Clemson had landed a major counterpunch of their own and cut it to just a FG at 28-25.
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From that point, LSU went punt, TD, missed FG on their next three possessions, but yet Clemson was unable to take advantage, managing just 26 yards on 11 plays of their own over their three ensuing possessions. It was during that stretch where another important call by the officials came into play and one could argue had a large bearing on the game. Clemson MLB James Skalski lowered his helmet while trying to make a tackle on Justin Jefferson on a short pass across the middle deep in Clemson territory.
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Skalski lowered his helmet and did make contact to Jefferson's shoulder pad area directly with the crown of his helmet. The play was reviewed, and Skalski was called for a 15-yard penalty, but his ejection for targeting was the big loss on the play. LSU was probably going to get some kind of points out of the possession, they were down around the Clemson 15-yard line, but the loss of Skalski was huge. He had 5 tackles to that point, 1 for loss, and a sack as he was one of the few Clemson defenders that was able to get to Burrow and actually get him down.
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Under the current NCAA football rules, it was the correct call. Unfortunately, both the Ohio State-Clemson Semifinal & LSU-Clemson Title game suffered ejections that changed the trajectory of both. In neither case, was the contact egregious or caused injury. I understand the need to clean up the game and am all for it, but kids who are just trying to make a tackle without malicious intent shouldn't be ejected. Review the play, if it's egregious, fine, then immediate ejection, otherwise a 15-yard penalty, but the player remains in the game.
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After the ejection, LSU finished off the drive, to make it 35-25 late in the 3rd quarter. From that point, Clemson continued to struggle offensively, but got one more short end of a call. With 11:09 to go in the game, Lawrence hit Higgins up the left sideline for an apparent 48-yard TD. Higgins appeared to initiate contact with the LSU defender, and the defender reciprocated the contact and then fell as Higgins made the catch and went into the endzone. Higgins was flagged for offensive PI on the play for pushing off, but it was a tough call either way. If the play stands, it's potentially 42-32 with still 11 mins to go.
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Either way, the call went in LSU's favor and Clemson was forced to punt. The Tigers did absolutely nothing from that point as LSU grinded out an impressive 42-25 victory. While many may point to the officiating as having an impact (and it did to an extent), the bottom line was LSU still outplayed Clemson and Joe Burrow & co. torched what was supposed to be a much better defense than what we witnessed last night.
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Burrow finished off his remarkable, record-shattering season by going 31 for 49 for 463 yards and 5 TD passes to 0 picks. Maybe the most underrated aspect of his performance was his uncanny ability to scramble, move in the pocket, and by his team an extra second in the face of Clemson's relentless pass rush. He ended up extending many plays, and allowed LSU to get into more manageable third down situations, instead of the 3rd & longs they faced early in the game. He ended up with 58 yards on the ground and a score - and LSU needed them.
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Chase ended up with a quieter second half, but still dazzled for 9 catches and 221 yards and the 2 first-half TDs. Justin Jefferson didn't make his first catch of the game until over the midway point of the 2nd quarter, but went on to finish with 9 catches for 106 yards. HB Edwards-Helaire went for 110 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving, coming up with a big-time performance of his own. Thaddeus Moss had himself a big game as well with 5 catches for 36 yards and a pair of scores for LSU.
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Clemson's Lawrence, meanwhile, had maybe his worst game, at the most inopportune time. He finished the game just 18-37 for 234 yards. The more telling stat was the fact he was only 5-14, for just 37 yards in the second half with 4:47 to play by that point, LSU had it put away as they held a 17-point advantage. He was just a bit off all night long, and routinely overthrew his receivers. He will be fine & so will Clemson, but he did have a noticeably off-game. Of course, the Clemson coaching staff didn't help him out much, by refusing to feed Etienne or attempt to run anything shorter than 20 yard pass plays. A few more screens, quick slants, and hooks to the tight end would have been preferred to help get him in a groove, but the coaching staff had a down game as well from a gameplan/adjustment standpoint. The first 15 or so offensive plays were great and the 6 to start out the second half, but the rest of the game was not.
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In the end, it was LSU getting the job done and now the talk can begin as to whether this team just turned in the greatest collective season in college football season? Did Joe Burrow just turn in the greatest single-season in the history of college football? After what LSU just accomplished over the course of 14 football games in 2019 & 1 in 2020 (against a total of 7 teams ranked in the top 10), the early answers may very well be YES. Congrats to the LSU Tigers (15-0) on an incredible season & claiming their 4th National Title.
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