NEW ORLEANS — No. 1 LSU completed one of the most impressive seasons in college football history on Monday night, storming back from a first half deficit to take down No. 3 Clemson in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. The 42-25 win for LSU was a fitting finale for Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, who finished one of the greatest individual seasons of all time by shattering even more records in the game that gave LSU its first national championship since the 2007 season.
Burrow finished the game with 463 yards on 31-of-49 passing, totalling six touchdowns (five passing) with no turnovers. He set new national title game records for passing yards and touchdowns, broke Deshaun Watson’s record for total yards in a championship game and broke the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes in the process.
The win is a crowning achievement for Ed Orgeron and the LSU coaching staff, especially offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger and passing game coordinator Joe Brady, for the way they were able to transform not just the scheme of their offense but the mentality of the entire team. The aggressiveness that comes with an up-tempo spread attack was adopted on every side of the ball, and their relentlessness ultimately became the defining quality of their dominance.
LSU’s offense did not dominate for the entire game. In factm, poor field position and some strong early play by Clemson’s defense limited the scoring opportunities early on. Clemson had a 17-7 lead in the second quarter before Burrow finally started to heat up, but once he got rolling, there was no stopping the hottest hand in college football. Burrow linked up with wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase for 147 yards in the first half alone, and the Biletnikoff Award winner finished the game with nine catches for 221 yards and two touchdowns, which is a new CFP National Championship record for receiving yards.
The “you can’t make this up” factor with LSU and this game was off the charts from the moment their spot was locked up with its Peach Bowl win 16 days ago. The Tigers were back in New Orleans in the same building where a 21-0 loss to Alabama in the BCS Championship Game kick started an eight-game losing streak against the Crimson Tide. LSU had to go to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to end that streak of disappointment, and now it has fully reversed the mojo from the shutout title game loss with a high-flying win that was just another day of ball for the nation’s No. 1 offense.
CBS Sports was be with you the entire way updating this story analysis and highlights from LSU vs. Clemson.
