Field Level Media
Dec 28, 2019
Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow continued his historic season by throwing seven touchdown passes as No. 1 LSU rolled over No. 4 Oklahoma 63-28 in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday in Atlanta.
Burrow completed 29 of 39 passes for a career-high 493 yards as he and the Tigers' offense set a slew of records. He threw all seven touchdowns before halftime, then added an eighth score on the ground after the break. Justin Jefferson caught 14 passes for 227 yards and tied a record for any bowl game with four touchdown receptions.
The SEC champion Tigers (14-0) will face No. 3 Clemson -- who survived No. 2 Ohio State 29-23 in Saturday's later CFP semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl -- in the CFP National Championship on Jan. 13 in New Orleans. The Big XII champion Sooners finished 12-2 after losing for the fourth time in the CFP semifinals.
Burrow threw touchdown passes for 19, 35, 42 and 30 yards to Jefferson, 8 and 2 yards to Terrace Marshall Jr., and 62 to Thaddeus Moss.
LSU led 21-7 after one quarter and 49-14 at halftime, as Burrow passed for 403 yards. He then rushed 3 yards for a touchdown on the first possession of the third quarter.
Myles Brennan replaced Burrow in the fourth quarter and drove the Tigers to John Emery Jr.'s 6-yard touchdown run.
Tigers leading rusher Clyde Edwards-Helaire played despite not practicing since injuring a hamstring in practice more than a week earlier. Edwards-Helaire rushed twice for 14 yards before being removed from the lopsided game as a precaution.
Chris Curry got most of the work at running back, rushing 16 times for 89 yards, but the Tigers had little use for a running game with Burrow's productivity.
Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts, the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting, completed 15 of 31 attempts for 217 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed 14 times for 43 yards and two touchdowns for the Sooners. CeeDee Lamb caught four passes for 119 yards.
LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger coached during the game after learning of the death of his daughter-in-law just a few hours before the game. Carley McCord was one of five people who were headed to Atlanta for the game and died when their eight-passenger plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Lafayette, La.
--Field Level Media