January 15, 2020

On Monday, January 13, the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers defeated the Tigers of Clemson University 42-25 to win the College Football Playoff National Championship at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. LSU’s win capped a perfect 15-0 season in which the team led the nation in scoring and total offense. The national title was also the crowning moment of a magical year for senior LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who set a single season record for touchdown passes (60) and earned the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s best college football player. It was the first national title for LSU and head coach Ed Orgeron since 2007. For defending champion Clemson, the loss was the team’s first since losing the national championship against Alabama two years ago.

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow rushes for a touchdown during the first half of the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 13, 2020, in New Orleans. Credit: © Todd Kirkland, Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Clemson kept LSU pinned down with poor field position early in the game and took a 17-7 lead in the second quarter. Clemson’s 10-point advantage—LSU’s largest deficit this season—did not last long, however. LSU’s Burrow came to life, putting up three touchdowns in the space of nine minutes to give LSU a 28-17 halftime lead. Clemson cut the lead to 28-25 with a touchdown in the third quarter, but LSU added two more scores to take firm control and coast to the national title.

Burrow finished the game with 463 yards passing, 5 touchdown passes, and 1 rushing score. His 521 yards of total offense (including 58 yards on the ground) were the most ever recorded by a quarterback in a national championship game. LSU junior running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 110 yards on just 16 carries. Clemson sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 18 of 37 passes for 234 yards and no touchdown passes. Clemson junior running back Travis Etienne, a native of Louisiana, ran for 78 yards in the loss. Etienne’s 4,038 career rushing yards are the most in Clemson history.

The four-team College Football Playoff began with a bang on Dec. 28, 2019, as No. 2 Ohio State University fell to No. 3 seed Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. OSU fans were irate as two controversial officiating calls went against the team in the closely contested game. The first controversial call was made against OSU defensive back Shaun Wade following a hit on Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the second quarter. After a review of the tackle, Wade was ejected from the game for targeting the quarterback and lowering his helmet to hit Lawrence. Clemson later scored a touchdown on that offensive drive. In the game’s second half, an OSU defensive back appeared to strip the ball away from a Clemson wide receiver and return the interception for a touchdown, giving OSU a 23-21 lead. However, an official review led the referees to overturn the call, ruling the pass incomplete and negating the score. Clemson went on the win 29-23 and advance to the championship game.

Also on December 28, the No. 1 LSU Tigers had a much easier time in a 63-28 romp over No. 4 seed Oklahoma at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow tied a college bowl game record with seven touchdown passes. Oklahoma has appeared in four of the six College Football Playoffs held since the end of the 2014 season, but has yet to win a game.

Alabama’s Kenyan Drake (in white) gets past Clemson’s T. J. Green to score a touchdown with a 95-yard kickoff return during the second half of the NCAA College Football Playoff Championship game. The 2015 championship was decided on Monday, January 11, in Glendale, Arizona. Credit: © David J. Phillip, AP Photo

January 12, 2016

The University of Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Clemson University Tigers 45-40 on Monday night, January 11, to win the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship. The title was the fourth in the past seven seasons for Alabama, placing the school among the elite in college football history. Only Notre Dame during the period of 1943 to 1949 won as many as four championships in seven seasons.

The game broke a recent string of one-sided championship games that lacked suspense down the stretch. On Monday night, the lead went back and forth for the first three quarters, with Alabama taking control with a 17-point burst in three minutes in the fourth quarter. The contest was loaded with big moments—with four touchdowns coming on plays of more than 50 yards, including a 95-yard kickoff return by Alabama’s Kenyan Drake. The two teams combined for 1,012 yards in total offense, plus almost 300 yards more in punt and kickoff returns. Alabama and Clemson scored 40 points between them in the fourth quarter alone.

Each team’s offensive star gave a center stage performance. Alabama’s Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns, including a 50-yard sprint that opened the scoring 5 minutes and 18 seconds into the game. Clemson’s All-American sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson passed for 405 yards and four touchdowns and added another 73 yards rushing. Watson has got to be the odds-on favorite for next season’s Heisman Trophy.

For all the excitement provided by both teams offensively, the key play of the evening was a kickoff that went only 15 yards. Alabama had kicked a field goal to tie the score at 24-24 with 10 minutes and 34 seconds remaining in the game. Alabama coach Nick Saban then elected to try an on-side kick to retain possession of the ball. The kick was executed perfectly against the surprised Clemson team as an Alabama player caught the kick in mid air. Two plays later, quarterback Jake Coker hit tight end O. J. Howard with a 51-yard touchdown pass to give Alabama what turned out to be a permanent lead with 9 minutes and 45 seconds left in the game.

The teams still had time to score four more touchdowns and a field goal, the last touchdown, by Clemson, bringing the score to 45-40 with 12 seconds left. Clemson tried its own on-side kick, but the ball went out of bounds and Alabama ran out the clock to end one of the most memorable title champion games in college football history.

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