Atlanta, GA- It’s time for the College Football Playoffs! After a great season of action, we head to Atlanta, GA for the opening semifinal matchup as the number one ranked LSU Tigers take on the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the 2019 Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl.
We should be in for a great matchup when the Tigers and Sooners kickoff this Saturday from Mercedes-Benz Stadium as two of the best offenses in college football square off, and whichever team wins will advance to the CFP National Championship in New Orleans next month. With that said, let’s dive into both teams for our preview of the third-ever meeting between these two storied programs.
Making their first appearance in the College Football Playoffs is the LSU Tigers, who advanced to the playoffs as the one seed following their 37-10 victory over UGA, which claimed the SEC Championship in the very building they will play in this Saturday.
Probably the most accomplished team in college football this year, LSU features the National Coach of the Year, the Heisman Award winner, The Biletnikoff Award winner, and the Thorpe Award winner, just to name a few.
Starting with the head whistle, Coach Ed Orgeron leads the Tigers in his fourth season as the head man and has done an incredible job building the program to the cusp of their fourth national championship. “Coach O”, as he is widely known as, is 38-9 at the helm of LSU, including their current 14 game winning streak.
Coach O talked with the media earlier this week about his team’s opportunity in the Peach Bowl saying, “These guys have been phenomenal, accommodations, the welcome, the hospitality. The food obviously has been phenomenal, practice facilities, hotel. Everything’s been great. We arrived yesterday. The guys had dinner, had a team meeting. Everybody was in the curfew, 100% ready to go. Everybody was early for the meetings today. We had an (indiscernible) Monday practice, we practiced in the Dome. Different feeling about this team this week. This is a playoff game for us. You can feel the intensity ratcheting up.”
The Tigers feature an elite offense under Coach O, entering the playoffs at number one in total offense at 554.3 yards per game, number two in passing yards per game at 386.8, and number three in scoring offense at 47.8 points per game.
Quarterback Joe Burrow, recently named as the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner, leads the LSU offense. The graduate transfer senior leads the nation in passing touchdowns and completion percentage and is second nationally in passing yards and yards per game. Burrow has taken the college football world by storm in 2019, and the Oklahoma defense will have to be at their best if they are going to be able to stay in this game.
Burrow has developed a great relationship with receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who tied the SEC record for touchdown receptions in a season with 18 on his way to winning the Biletnikoff Award as the top wideout in the country. Chase is flanked by another stud receiver in Justin Jefferson, who leads the Tigers in receptions with 88 and added another 12 receiving touchdowns.
Defensively, LSU has given up just 21.2 points per game on the year, thanks mostly to their great secondary with Thorpe Award winner Grant Delpit for outstanding safety and consensus All-American Derek Stingley who led the SEC in interceptions.
For Oklahoma, the Sooners make their third consecutive College Football Playoff appearance, as they try for their eighth national championship.
Head Coach Lincoln Riley is in his third season as the leader of the Sooners, taking over for legendary coach Bob Stoops and continuing the winning tradition in Oklahoma.
Coach Riley talked about the opportunity his team has in the semifinal game saying, “We’re happy to be here. Have had great work back at home. From day one, we put together a schedule that we thought would put our team in the best position to play our very best ball, and our players have responded well. Staff has. I think we’ve got a great plan. Excited about the work that we’ve had, and we’re certainly excited to get here to Atlanta and get game week started.”
Much like LSU, the Sooners feature a high-powered offensive attack, ranking first in the nation in yards per play and second just behind the Tigers in total offense. Averaging 43.2 points per game, Oklahoma ranks fifth in scoring offense in 2019, which makes for an intriguing matchup for this semifinal game.
Leading the offense of the Sooners is another graduate transfer senior in Jalen Hurts. The former Alabama quarterback is familiar with LSU from his time with the Crimson Tide, which should giver Oklahoma some help having some extra knowledge of their opponent. Hurts was the runner-up at the Heisman Trophy ceremony behind Joe Burrow, leading the nation in yards per pass at 11.8 which set a new FBS record.
Oklahoma also features an uber-talented wideout in CeeDee Lamb, who was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award. Lamb has six games of at least 135-yards receiving this season and ranks third in receiving touchdowns with 13. The Sooners will need another major performance from Hurts and Lamb if they are going to pull the upset of the number one ranked team, but certainly have the firepower to give themselves a shot.
A big reason for Oklahoma’s success has been the turnaround by their defense from last season. Last season the Sooners ranked 114th in total defense, allowing 453.8 points per game. In 2019, the defense is allowing just 33.6 yards per game, good for 24th in total defense while allowing just 24.5 points per game in the Big XII conference which is known for its offensive output. Oklahoma will have a huge test for their improved defense against arguably the best defense in college football, and it will be fun to see how they match up on Saturday,
Overall, this should be an incredibly fun matchup between two of the best offenses of the country and two defenses that are better than people realize. The 2019 Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl will come down to whose defense can make enough stops, and I believe the weapons on both sides of the ball for LSU will be too much for Oklahoma to overcome.
SCORE PREDICTION: #1 LSU Tigers 38 – #4 Oklahoma Sooners 27
Written by Brian Pohl
