Reflections on the National Championship Game

[WreckinGT]

Clemson didn't play very well last night. Terrell was especially awful. I doubt they could have won anyways but it wasn't their best showing. Im sure they will do better in next years title game. As for where we are in comparison, I have serious doubts that we can ever field a team as good as either of the teams that played last night unless something drastically changes in college football.

 

[Josh H]

Clemson ran an NCAA/Madden style "glitchy" defense (3-1-7) designed to make LSU run the ball. Which LSU responded by going empty sets and beating that defense anyways.

As far as coaches/assistants, come to BDS and watch Clemson this year. Try to count the number of people in orange polos on their sideline. It is very close to one for each player on the team.

 

[YJMD]

The Clemson D line did fine. There were some plays they were unable to keep Burrow from extending. Most of the pressures were on the blitz, but that's what Venables does. Burrow is just that great. He will diagnose a defense readily and pick up on cues for where the opening is lightning quick. He was mostly running because he diagnosed the likely hole pre-snap. When there were blitzes he knew had more rushers than they could block he would throw a very accurate slant within 2.5s. When they kept guys underneath and cut those off but gave him a couple seconds more he would deliver a perfect bomb downfield where only his guy could get it. Nearly impossible to beat that.

 

[Jacket05]

Clemson had 5 sacks to LSU's 2, not sure what world you live in where that is getting whipped. Their biggest problem was repeatedly leaving Burrow unaccounted for and the receiver for LSU, #1, making their best db look terrible. I think Lawrence got flustered as well early on and started trying to rifle every pass to the receiver without setting his feet and made a lot of bad throws.

Lawrence lost that game for them. He looked like he got in his own head at the beginning of the game and was off the entire time. LSU did a good job of covering the receivers but when they had a step Lawrence was constantly off target. At one point in the 3rd quarter the commentators said that he had overthrown his receivers on 13 passes (that did no include other off target throws just the overthrows). Then in the 4th he had a receiver open at the sticks on a 3rd and 26 and the pass hit the ground about 3-4 yards short of the receiver and first down marker.

Yes the defense could have done more but if Lawrence had played even close to as well as he had the second half of this season (or all last season) Clemson would have won that game. The defense made ENOUGH stops even though Burrows put up great numbers. Burrows just played lights out and was impossible to stop on most drives. When Clemson had decent coverage Burrows placed perfect balls and the receivers made great catches.

 

[TheFlyest]

1. Lawrence had an awful game. 13 overthrows!

2. Coaches went away from the run game way too early. Travis ran in for a TD and they never went back to him. Made no sense. The balance offense kept them in the game (even gave them a lead), ate the clock, and kept LSU’s offense off the field. They got pass happy.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

We cant have Parks and Rec, but I dont think 75 coaches is going to hurt our integrity. On some level, I agree that we will always have to do things somewhat differently, but the superiority complex don't win football games.

Who said we were superior? I mean I guess you could read my post to say we are academically, but that's true. Clemson could say their football team is superior, and that's also true. I mean...LOL

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Clemson ran an NCAA/Madden style "glitchy" defense (3-1-7) designed to make LSU run the ball. Which LSU responded by going empty sets and beating that defense anyways.

As far as coaches/assistants, come to BDS and watch Clemson this year. Try to count the number of people in orange polos on their sideline. It is very close to one for each player on the team.

This is true. I count the orange polos and khaki pants most every year at the game, and its somewhere around 60+.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Joe Burrow still threw for 440+ yards and 5 touchdowns

And that was after punting their first 3 possessions. Roughly about 3 quarters of work.

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

I agree. Clemson had it's chances but could not capitalize. I thought the talent was pretty equal. The difference was the QB play. Burrow played well and Lawrence had one of the worst games I have seen him play. He was greatly aided by an incompetent Offensive Coordinator. I don't know who was calling the plays for Clemson, but they were totally on the wrong page for the most part the whole game.

As for the line of scrimmage, I did not see the dominance someone mentioned earlier. Clemson continually was able to bring pressure on Burrow and stopped their running game until their linebacker got ejected. They also ran the ball inside pretty effectively but for some reason just gave up on that. They should have recognized that Lawrence was not going to pull another Superman act and win the game single handedly. After they lost their defensive leader, they should have tried to shorten the game and taken time off the clock running the ball. When the refs called the Offensive PI and took the TD away from Clemson it seemed to take the wind out of their sails.

Anyway, it was still an entertaining game. Congratulations to LSU, they earned the win. Without Burrow, I don't think they will be back next year, but they will continue to be very good. Clemson will be strong as well and should be preseason number one going into 2020.

Go Jackets!

 

[herb]

It is good to see that OBJ is keeping up with inflation. Now the $500 handshake

 

[Deleted member 2897]

It is good to see that OBJ is keeping up with inflation. Now the $500 handshake

Yup, nobody turning that down, and on live TV with feeds from local to national like CNN. Everybody knows the NCAA has no genitals.

 

[Techster]

Burrow may have had a season we will never see again. 6,000+ plus yards of total offense, 70%+ completion percentage, 60+ total touchdowns, Heisman Winner, National Championship winner.



It's not like he did it against a bunch of bums either:



Fantastically fun season from LSU offense. Will be interesting to see what LSU does next season after Burrow.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Burrow may have had a season we will never see again. 6,000+ plus yards of total offense, 70%+ completion percentage, 60+ total touchdowns, Heisman Winner, National Championship winner.



It's not like he did it against a bunch of bums either:



Fantastically fun season from LSU offense. Will be interesting to see what LSU does next season after Burrow.

Yes they were amazing to watch this year. They would probably have won quite a few games in the NFL with the right schedule.

 

[YellowJacketFan2018]

I agree. Clemson had it's chances but could not capitalize. I thought the talent was pretty equal. The difference was the QB play. Burrow played well and Lawrence had one of the worst games I have seen him play. He was greatly aided by an incompetent Offensive Coordinator. I don't know who was calling the plays for Clemson, but they were totally on the wrong page for the most part the whole game.

As for the line of scrimmage, I did not see the dominance someone mentioned earlier. Clemson continually was able to bring pressure on Burrow and stopped their running game until their linebacker got ejected. They also ran the ball inside pretty effectively but for some reason just gave up on that. They should have recognized that Lawrence was not going to pull another Superman act and win the game single handedly. After they lost their defensive leader, they should have tried to shorten the game and taken time off the clock running the ball. When the refs called the Offensive PI and took the TD away from Clemson it seemed to take the wind out of their sails.

Anyway, it was still an entertaining game. Congratulations to LSU, they earned the win. Without Burrow, I don't think they will be back next year, but they will continue to be very good. Clemson will be strong as well and should be preseason number one going into 2020.

Go Jackets!

Tony Elliott was calling the offense for Clemson

 

[smokey_wasp]

Burrow may have had a season we will never see again. 6,000+ plus yards of total offense, 70%+ completion percentage, 60+ total touchdowns, Heisman Winner, National Championship winner.



It's not like he did it against a bunch of bums either:



Fantastically fun season from LSU offense. Will be interesting to see what LSU does next season after Burrow.

If you had showed me those numbers prior to this season, I would've thought they could have only come from a Mike Leach or June Jones "system" offense. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Techster]

Yes they were amazing to watch this year. They would probably have won quite a few games in the NFL with the right schedule.

I'm pretty sure 90% of the starters and quite a few reserves from both sides will be in the NFL one day.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Joe Burrow still threw for 440+ yards and 5 touchdowns

That was more because of the Clemson DB's not being able to tackle or at times even keep up with the LSU receivers. Burrow may get all the credit, but Clemson's D is who lost that game. Lawrence looked very good at times, especially early in the game and early in the 3rd quarter, but at other times, he just looked ok.

 

[gtpi]

Clemson ran an NCAA/Madden style "glitchy" defense (3-1-7) designed to make LSU run the ball. Which LSU responded by going empty sets and beating that defense anyways.

As far as coaches/assistants, come to BDS and watch Clemson this year. Try to count the number of people in orange polos on their sideline. It is very close to one for each player on the team.

and we have how many now? 8? up from 2? we should have a group of local volunteers to help our staff. letter writers. data gatherers. research techs. GRUNTS. to help the staff with things I dont want them doing like making copies etc.

no.... they shouldnt contact recruits but i see no reason why they cant lighten the burden of our expanded staff in any way possible. i read that tosu bama and clemson all have 30+ volunteer staffers available.

surely we have 30 football nuts in our fan base that would help out in exchange for being allowed on the field during games etc.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I agree. Clemson had it's chances but could not capitalize. I thought the talent was pretty equal. The difference was the QB play. Burrow played well and Lawrence had one of the worst games I have seen him play. He was greatly aided by an incompetent Offensive Coordinator. I don't know who was calling the plays for Clemson, but they were totally on the wrong page for the most part the whole game.

As for the line of scrimmage, I did not see the dominance someone mentioned earlier. Clemson continually was able to bring pressure on Burrow and stopped their running game until their linebacker got ejected. They also ran the ball inside pretty effectively but for some reason just gave up on that. They should have recognized that Lawrence was not going to pull another Superman act and win the game single handedly. After they lost their defensive leader, they should have tried to shorten the game and taken time off the clock running the ball. When the refs called the Offensive PI and took the TD away from Clemson it seemed to take the wind out of their sails.

Anyway, it was still an entertaining game. Congratulations to LSU, they earned the win. Without Burrow, I don't think they will be back next year, but they will continue to be very good. Clemson will be strong as well and should be preseason number one going into 2020.

Go Jackets!

That offensive PI definitely took the wind out of Clemson's sails. The commentators, if I heard them correctly, asked how you could blame one of the two involved (receiver or defender), since they were both physically engaged with the other. I think Clemson got screwed on that call.

 

[Cam]

There's a pretty great article by Andy Staples on The Athletic about all of the improbable pieces that had to come together for LSU to pull off this championship season. Reading some of the quotes, I couldn't help but feel some similarities between Orgeron and Collins:

A coach, unsure anyone would let him lead a program on a permanent basis after he went 10-25 at Ole Miss from 2005-07, happened to be exactly where he needed to be. He had tried during that 6-2 USC interim stint to make the Trojans’ administration believe he’d learned from the mistakes he’d made at Ole Miss. He tried to explain that he wouldn’t be the micromanaging tyrant who had blown his first chance at a head-coaching gig. He tried to explain that he’d figured out his players would respect him rather than fear him if he treated them like his own sons.

He made a presentation to [Athletic Director] Alleva that enumerated all the ways he’d be the best leader for LSU. He would ensure he kept Dave Aranda in charge of the defense. And he’d find someone who could run an offense that would bring LSU into this century on that side of the ball.

The other obvious similarity is their cultural fits with their respective institutions which they grew up around. Collins and Orgeron share the fact that they both had to campaign heavily for themselves to get their respective gigs. Orgeron's character just plainly wouldn't work anywhere else except LSU and he was consistently ridiculed elsewhere, and you could argue Collins' style works specifically well for the swagger-filled Atlanta atmosphere (and maybe not a small-town school). Obviously, LSU has numerous advantages over GT in terms of money, fanbase, and resources (DC Dave Aranda gets paid $600k less than CGC), but the coaching similarities are interesting and reassuring. I'm pretty happy for Orgeron.