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.

June 28, 2017

Last night, June 27, the University of Florida Gators defeated the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers 6-1 to win the College World Series. Florida won the best-of-three series 2 games to 0 for its first baseball national title. After the final out in the ninth inning, the Gators stormed the field and collided in a joyous pile of ballplayers behind the pitcher’s mound at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.

University of Florida players celebrate the final out of the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 27, 2017. Florida won the series 2 games to 0 over Louisiana State University. Credit: © Jamie Schwaberow, NCAA/Getty Images

The College World Series (CWS) is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Baseball Championship tournament. The tournament begins with 64 teams, but only the final 8 advance to the CWS. (World Series is a trademark of Major League Baseball licensed to the NCAA). Southeastern Conference rivals Florida and LSU rolled through the early parts of the tournament to reach the tense CWS brackets. LSU knocked off top-ranked Oregon State University to reach the finals. Florida bested a tough Texas Christian University club in its semifinals.

In game one of the CWS Finals, Florida stifled late-inning LSU rallies to eke out a 4-3 win. Pitcher Brady Singer struck out 12 over 7 innings for the Gators, and the lineup pushed just enough runs across to hold off a 9-hit Tiger attack. In game two, Florida starter Tyler Dyson blanked the Tigers for six innings, leaving in the seventh with a 2-0 lead. LSU jumped on Gator reliever Michael Byrne, scoring a run and putting runners at first and third with no outs. Power-hitting LSU catcher Michael Papierski rolled into a double play, but a controversial interference call at second base prevented the tying run from scoring from third. The Gators escaped the inning with a 2-1 lead.

LSU had another golden scoring chance in the eighth, putting runners at first and third with no outs against Byrne and then Gator pitcher Jackson Kowar. But a strikeout, fielder’s choice at the plate, and line out netted zero runs. The Gators responded with four runs in their half of the eighth to make it 6-1, completely deflating the LSU ball club. The Tigers managed a single in the ninth before Kowar got the last out on a chopper to second.

The CWS win was Florida’s first. LSU has six CWS titles, winning in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2009. The CWS has been held in Omaha, Nebraska—a central and generally neutral location—since 1950. The series was played at historic Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium—once the largest minor league stadium in the United States—through 2010. TD Ameritrade Park has hosted the CWS since it opened in 2011.