Clemson
The Tigers had one of the stranger seasons this year in terms of how people talked about them. They scored less than 40 points in just three regular season games, but all season there seemed to be concerns about Trevor Lawrence and company. Lawrence did start the season slow, with 5 TDs to 5 Ints through the first three games, and a just very average tight victory of UNC in Week 5. But from then on he was electric, tossing 26 TDs to just 3 Ints through the rest of the season, and completing over 70% of his passes. Travis Etienne was similarly locked up early, averaging just 3.3 and 4.5 yards per carry against Texas A&M and UNC, far below his 7.3 mark against FBS competition. That early season swoon though gave way to stellar performances, as Clemson rebounded to be one of the bets teams in the nation on offense. The Tigers offense was efficient most of the season, averaging 7.5 yards per play. Overall they gained 63% of the potential yards they could this year, one of the top marks in the nation. The offense faced drives needing at least 70 yards to score on 57% of their drives, a bit better than the national average of 60.2%.
On defense, the performance was solid all year despite the number of losses to the front 7 experienced over the last few years to the NFL draft. This group was lead by the man of a thousand positions, Isaiah Simmons. Simmons lead the team in tackles, tackles for loss and was second in pass break ups and interceptions. Simmons had played safety before, but move to outside linebacker more this season. In the secondary, K'von Wallace moved to replace Simmons in the defensive backfield, and had 10 pass break ups to go with a pair of interceptions and 62 tackles. The defense was able to take advantage of opponents being forced to make long marches down the field, with more than three quarters of their drives needing to go 70 or more yards. They allowed just 25% of potential yards to be gained, with only Virginia and UNC crossing the 30% mark during the regular season.
LSU
While LSU was not expected to have the kind of season they've put together, they aren't a big surprise to be here after starting the Presason at #6. Largely, questions about the Bayou Bengals existed at the QB position. In 2018, Joe Burrow completed less than 60% of his passes with just 7.6 yards per attempt. Half of his TD passes came in the last two games of the year. Expectations were not sky high. But Burrow exploded under OC Steve Ensminger and QB Coach Joe Brady to a Heisman season and likely the first overall pick in the 2020 draft. The greatest benefactor of this jump in production was Justin Jefferson. Jefferson's yards per catch dropped slightly, to 14.1, but thats a bit expected when the number of catches nearly doubles. Most of his work came on first down's cacthing 44 passes for 17 yards per, with 9 plays of 25 or more yards. Ja'Marr Chase became the deep threat for the team, with 8 games of over 100 yards and two with over 200. The Tigers run game was a buoyed by the passing attack, averaging nearly a yard better per carry. Clyde Edwards-Helaire became vastly more productive, with a few more uneven performances and some injuries. Overall, the Tigers picked up 63.6% of their potential yards, and scored touchdowns on 52% of them. This offense had definite become one of the premiere groups in the country.
The defense took a slight step back from last season, allowing over 5 yards per play as opposed to just 4.8. But they still ranked 27th in the country in that respect. They ended up surrendering 40% of the potential yards opponents could gain. This was a bit inflated though by games against Alabama (61.2%) and Florida (63.8%). The defense depended a lot on Freshman Corner Derek Stingley, who intercepted 6 passes while breaking up 15 of them. A few rough spots throughout the year, but 2 picks in the SEC title game showed he was ready for the spotlight. Fellow Corner Kristain Fulton had himself a great season as well, breaking up 13 passes, intercepting one and posting 32 tackles.
Overall
Both teams have been pretty great all season. The program sees LSU as essentially a field goal favorite, but only winning in about 52% of the matchups. That Clemson defense is possibly the best that LSU's offense will face, but they've faced great defenses all year. Clemson's offense was able to get past the best defense they faced last time they played in Ohio State, but that game really swung on a JK Dobbins injury and a very costly set of penalties (the Targeting and roughing the kicker calls). But Clemson ahs been in this siuation, and has some of the best coordinators in the country to help make those in game adjustments that might make all the difference. I still think LSU is going to come out on top, because their corners are fantastic and the offense is going to stress the Clemson D like they really have not been all year long. But it wouldn't surprise me if this came down to the last posession, a game for the ages kind of moment.
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