LSU defeats Clemson in the national championship game thanks to Joe Burrow's heroics. Trevor Lawrence loses his first collegiate game, failing to repeat as champion, as Joe Burrow and LSU overcome a double-digit deficit in the first half to win the school's fourth national championship.
After losing the opener to Alabama by a score of 42-7, it looked like Clemson was going to be able to rebound from that loss and go on to beat LSU for the third year in a row. But then something strange happened - Joe Burrow started playing better and better as the season progressed. By the time he faced off against Lawrence in Atlanta, Ga., on December 26th at Allstate Sugar Bowl Stadium, they were equal competitors. And when the two met on Monday night, Jan. 7th, at Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, La., with a peak audience of 111 million people watching nationwide, it was Joe Burrow who got the victory and claimed his own spot as the greatest quarterback in LSU history. He finished the game with four touchdowns while throwing for just under 200 yards in leading his team to a 52-48 triumph over Clemson.
An aggressive offensive strategy employed by new LSU head coach Ed Orgeron was the key to defeating Clemson. The Tigers scored 20 points in the first quarter for their first victory over the Crimson Tide since 2015. It was also Joe Burrow's first career win over Lawrence as a starter.
Burrow, LSU's Heisman Trophy winner, defeated Clemson 42-25 to win the championship. Joe Burrow tossed five touchdown passes and ran for another as No. 1 LSU won the national championship against No. 3 Clemson 42-25 on Monday night. The Tigers received the top seed in the NCAA football playoffs by virtue of their victory over the defending champion Clemson Tigers.
LSU (10-1) will face Ohio State (12-0) in the 100th annual Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 in Pasadena, California. The game will be broadcast on Fox at 8:15 p.m. EST. It will also be available on ESPN and the Tiger Stadium video board.
Ohio State beat Virginia Tech 27-24 in overtime to advance to its third consecutive College Football Playoff title game. The Buckeyes will try to become the first team since Florida in 1995-97 to repeat as national champions. They'll do so with a trip to Pasadena on their mind. "We're going to the Rose Bowl," Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields said after the game. "That's what we came here to do."
The last time these two teams met was in the 2016 season opener in Orlando, Florida. That game was called off due to rain delays that stretched into early October. When it was rescheduled three weeks later, both teams were undefeated.
The Tigers were 11-1 throughout the regular season before defeating Georgia in the SEC Championship game. LSU went on to win the BCS championship by defeating Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. The victory gave head coach Les Miles his second BCS title.
In addition to its 2011 championship, LSU has also been ranked No. 1 in the AP and Coaches' polls for most of the season. The only other time that has happened is from 1958-60 when John Huefner's Tigers were undefeated and untied during the regular season before losing their final game. They then defeated Iowa in the Gator Bowl.
In terms of wins, the highest total ever recorded by the LSU football team was 12 victories in 1993. That year they finished the season with a 10-0 record including a victory over Florida State in the Liberty Bowl. The lowest total ever recorded was 0 in 1892 when there was no conference schedule and teams played only four games per season. The Tigers did not have a winning record until 1895 when they went 3-3-1.
LSU has won at least nine games in each of its last seven seasons. From 1990-96, the program had only two eight-win seasons. In 1997, LSU lost its first three games before finishing 8-5-1.
Clemson won their second national championship, preventing Alabama from repeating. Clemson defeated Alabama 35-31 on Monday night, and Watson's 420 passing yards, 43 running yards, and four total touchdowns (three passing) assured the Tigers won the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship.
Watson connected on 25 of 42 passes for 420 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for a touchdown against Alabama's defense.
Alabama entered the game as one of the favorites to win the title after winning the SEC by double digits for the third consecutive year. However, they fell to Clemson in one of the most exciting games of the season.
The Crimson Tide opened up the game with a pair of first-quarter scores but then went three and out on its next possession before Clemson answered with a nine play, 75 yard drive that ate up over eight minutes off the clock and ended with Watson finding wide receiver Hunter Renfrow for a two-yard score. The two teams traded punts until late in the second quarter when Clemson scored again this time on a five-yard run from freshman tailback Deshawn Williams.
In the third quarter, both defenses held strong as Clemson didn't gain a first down and Alabama only had one punt attempt.
Since 1985, LSU has dominated the series, losing just five games, with the most recent loss coming in 2017, when the then-unranked Bulldogs upset # 12 LSU 37-7 in Starkville, Mississippi State's greatest margin of victory in series history. In Tiger Stadium in 1991, William "Sleepy" Robinson led Mississippi State to a 28-19 win. Since then, the series is tied 3-3.
In addition to its 5-5 record in Baton Rouge, Mississippi State has also lost by double digits to LSU in Jackson (1999) and Fulton (2003).
Auburn has won the other two meetings between these in-state rivals, defeating Mississippi State 41-7 in 1910 and shutting out LSU 7-0 in 1913. The Tigers have not lost to MSU since.
The last time Mississippi State defeated LSU during Coach Dye's first season at the school was in 1947, when Dan McGugin's team beat the defending national champion Les Miles' squad 21-14 in Baton Rouge. Under current MSU head coach Joe Moorhead, no team has won more than one game in Ruston since the 1997 season, when the Cowboys finished 8-4.
Before 1977, the winner of the annual LSU-MSU football rivalry game was awarded the Governor's Cup. This award went to the school that scored the most points throughout the entire season.
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