GLENDALE, Ariz. — LSU has the Heisman-winning quarterback and Clemson brings the 29-game winning streak. The College Football Playoff has delivered another doozy for its title game, and it features two teams of Tigers who haven’t lost a game this season.
They pushed through the CFP semifinals Saturday in drastically different ways. LSU got the drama out of the way early in a 63-28 win against Oklahoma and Clemson needed all 60 minutes in a white-knuckle 29-23 victory over Ohio State.
Now they’re headed to New Orleans for a clash in the title game on Jan. 13.
“These are the games you dream of,” Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons said. “You never want to dream about a championship game where everything’s going to be simple. You want to have a good matchup.”
It’s a fascinating showdown between LSU quarterback Joe Burrow – who won the Heisman Trophy in a landslide earlier this month – and a Clemson team that’s the defending national champion and hasn’t lost in nearly two years.
LSU is moving on after a brilliant offensive performance against Oklahoma. Burrow threw for 493 yards and seven touchdowns and now the Tigers will try for their first national title since Jan. 7, 2008, when they beat Ohio State 38-24 in New Orleans.
They’re headed back to the Big Easy, which is just an 80-mile drive down Interstate 10 from LSU’s campus. Clemson will be playing for its third national title in four seasons and this one might feel a little like a road game.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a great day, going to be a purple and gold crowd in that Superdome,” LSU Coach Ed Orgeron said. “The state of Louisiana is going to be on fire.”
Clemson is back in the title game for the fourth time in five seasons but there’s little doubt they’ll be underdogs.
Even though Clemson (14-0) was undefeated coming into Saturday’s game against Ohio State, the popular opinion was that the Tigers hadn’t played much of anyone in a mostly mediocre Atlantic Coast Conference. But after knocking off the Buckeyes in the late-night thriller, they’re one game away from another championship.
“The main reason we keep surprising people is because we know what we have with our team,” Simmons said. “We’re not worried about who we play. We’re not playing an opponent. We play to our standards – that’s the main thing each and every week.”
Burrow continued the amazing second act of his college career after transferring to Baton Rouge from Ohio State. The senior tied a record for any bowl game with his seven passing touchdowns against the Sooners on Saturday. Justin Jefferson caught four of them, which also tied a bowl record.
It was one of the best offensive performances in the postseason in college football history, but Burrow wasn’t ready to discuss this team’s legacy.
“I think that will be a question after Jan. 13,” Burrow said. “I’m not reflecting on anything right now. We’re full steam ahead, getting back to work.”
In Saturday’s thrilling nightcap, Clemson extended its nation-best winning streak to 29 games, falling behind 16-0 in the first half before taking advantage of ill-timed Ohio State penalties to pull within 16-14 by halftime. The Tigers jumped ahead 21-16 in the third quarter but fell behind again when Ohio State scored to make it 23-21.
Clemson rallied in the final minutes, scoring with 1:49 left on Trevor Lawrence’s 34-yard pass to Travis Etienne and then completing the 2-point conversion for a 29-23 lead. The win wasn’t secure until there were 37 seconds left, when Clemson’s Nolan Turner snagged an interception in the end zone.
“I mean, what a football game,” Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney said during the postgame celebration. “It’s a shame somebody had to lose that game.”
Orgeron will be making his first appearance in the title game as a head coach. Swinney is a veteran of the playoffs, leading the Tigers to the title game for the fourth time in five seasons.
This will be just the fourth meeting between Clemson and LSU. The last was in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year’s Eve, which Clemson won 25-24. That game was part of Clemson’s ascension into the national elite under Swinney, who had his team playing for national titles a few years later.
LSU’s win puts a team from the Southeastern Conference in the title game for the 13th time in 14 seasons. Orgeron said the Tigers will be ready.
“We won’t make it bigger than life,” Orgeron said. “Obviously, we understand the magnitude of the football game, but we’re going to focus on the task at hand, the fundamentals, get better. We have an excellent football team.”
THE FIESTA BOWL referee defended two key calls that went Clemson’s way after video review in the Tigers’ victory.
A crew of officials from the SEC worked the game between Atlantic Coast Conference champion Clemson and Big Ten champion Ohio State.
Referee Ken Williamson spoke to a pool reporter after the game to explain two crucial decisions made by replay review.
Replay officials initiated a video review that led to a targeting call on Ohio State defensive back Shaun Wade in the second quarter after he had sacked Trevor Lawrence on a third-and-5. Wade hit the bracing quarterback hard enough to keep him down on the turf for a few minutes. No flag was thrown on the field, but replay review spotted helmet-to-helmet contact.
Not only was Wade ejected, but what would have been a fourth down became a first down for Clemson at the Ohio State 30.
“This was a crown-of-the-helmet targeting foul,” Williamson said. “So it did eliminate a lot of other factors. Initial contact was with the crown of the helmet. Then he wrapped up for the tackle. So at that point, targeting was properly called.”
A few plays later, Travis Etienne fought off a tackler with a stiff arm and scored from 8 yards out for Clemson to make it 16-7 with 2:45 left in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, with Clemson up 21-16, the Buckeyes appeared to score a touchdown after Clemson receiver Justyn Ross was stripped of the ball by Ohio State All-American Jeff Okudah and the fumble was returned to the end zone by Jordan Fuller.
Video review overturned the call on the field and ruled Ross never completed the catch.
“We had a lot of good looks on it,” Williamson said. “We put on fast motion and slow motion. The player did not complete the process of the catch, so, therefore, the pass was incomplete.”
Williamson said the play was reviewed in the stadium as well as at the video review center the SEC uses in Birmingham, and said they determined when Ross moved, the ball was becoming loose in his hands and he did not complete the process of the catch.
Ohio State Coach Ryan Day tried not to criticize the officiating in his postgame comments.
“I think when we look back on it, it is going to be overwhelming,” Day said.
Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith told Yahoo Sports that he was angered by the call. Smith did not return a text message seeking comment that was sent to him by The Associated Press.
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