Mercedes Benz Stadium–LSU Joe Burrow broke the single-season passing touchdown record (finished with 60) and LSU set the single-season points record in the poll era (726, beating 2013 Florida State’s 723 in 14 games) by closing out a 15-0 season with a 42-25 win against No. 3 Clemson in Football Playoff National Championship.
Burrow finished the game with 463 yards on 31-of-49 passing, totaling six touchdowns (five passing) with no turnovers. He set new national title game records for passing yards and touchdowns, broke Deshaun Watson’s record for total yards in a championship game.
Clemson led 17-7 and cut the score to 28-25 in the third quarter, but it couldn’t move Burrow of his spot pressure. QB Trevor Lawrence had 234 passing yards, though he completed only 18 of his 37 passes while losing a fumble. Travis Etienne, who became Clemson’s career rushing yards leader in the game, had 78 yards and a touchdown.
LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had 147 yards in the first half alone, the Biletnikoff Award winner finished the game with nine catches for 221 yards and two touchdowns, which is a new CFP National Championship record for receiving yards.
Clemson struck first, thanks to a 42-yard pass to Galloway. Lawrence finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown jaunt. Then LSU then found 6 on a 52-yard pass from Burrow to Chase.
LSU put a lot of pressure on Lawrence which made him struggle — ranked second in the nation statistically — didn’t have enough answers for LSU’s high powered offense.
LSU scored on drives of 70, 75, 87, and 95 yards in the first half. Burrow managed the game in the second half, aided by the ejection of linebacker James Skalski, a leader of Clemson’s defense, for targeting hit on LSU wide receiver James Jefferson in the third quarter.
Burrow would go on to throw 55 in 14 games before Monday night, surpass 5,200 yards through the air and sweep the end-of-season awards for quarterbacks, adding the Heisman Trophy last month. After having fled Ohio State because he wasn’t thought to be good enough to play, Burrow is widely expected to be picked first in the NFL draft in April.
“We had some bad field position in the beginning, but we started clicking on offense,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron told ESPN. “We figured out what they were going to do.”
