Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football show where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.
The Tigers from Death Valley are playing the Tigers from Death Valley in the 2019-20 College Football Playoff national championship game Monday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), and it’s going to be so much fun.
No. 1 LSU and No. 3 Clemson will face off at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans with a perfect season on the line. Less than a week before the final college football game of the season, LSU is a 6-point favorite, but that seems likely to shrink in the couple days before kick off.
To get here, Clemson beat No. 2 Ohio State in a semifinal thriller after LSU crushed No. 4 Oklahoma on the last Saturday in December, meaning the teams will have a little more than two weeks to prepare for the biggest game of the season.
Both teams have had incredible seasons and enter the final game with 14-0 records, and they’re both led by brilliant coaches and two of the best quarterbacks in the game. But here’s why Clemson will win Monday night.
3 reasons why Clemson will win the national championship
1. Championship experience: Clemson is making its fourth appearance in the national championship game in five years while playing for its third title in four seasons. Last season, so many people assumed Alabama would take the Tigers down and win it all, and the exact opposite happened with Clemson rocking the Crimson Tide, 44-16. Obviously, players graduate or leave early for the NFL, but that championship mentality and experience as a group is important. Not to mention that the team is on a 29-game win streak — it hasn’t lost since January 2018 — with a chance to go 30-0 and win back-to-back titles.
2. Trevor Lawrence: But not in the way you think. T-Law is one of the most talented quarterbacks to play the game, but it’s typically his arm that dazzles fans. But in the semifinal, he beat Ohio State’s top-10 rushing defense and ran for 107 yards and a touchdown, which came on this stunning 67-yard play.
WOW.
Trevor Lawrence takes the ball 67-yards up the gut for a TD.
(via @ESPN)pic.twitter.com/LbsTG7egId
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) December 29, 2019
It was, by far, his best game on the ground to date and his first with more than 100 yards. And if he can move like that against LSU’s No. 24 rushing defense, it’s another difficult factor to defend.
3. Resilience: Down 16-0 midway through the second quarter against Ohio State, Clemson looked like it was in trouble. The Tigers were struggling to contain J.K. Dobbins, and it seemed like one more score for the Buckeyes could keep a win out of Clemson’s reach. But Dabo Swinney’s team fought back and trailed by only two points at halftime. Capitalizing on multiple controversial moments and breakdowns in Ohio State’s defense, Clemson took control of the nail-biter. The game resembled the team’s early struggles this season when it still found a way to win, showing this team has had championship DNA in it all year.
Michelle’s pick: LSU
Evan’s pick: Clemson
The 2019-20 College Football Playoff national championship game is Monday, January 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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