Saturday afternoon, Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be loud and rocking as the top ranked LSU Tigers square off against the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners in the 52nd Chick-Fil-A Bowl. It is no surprise these two teams are here after the seasons both of them have had. For the Tigers, they have been battle tested throughout the season and have been led by Heisman trophy winner Joe Burrow. The Tigers offense is the difference this season, leading the nation in total offense and red zone offense.
Burrow is proving why he is one, if not the best quarterback in college football this year leading in completion percentage, touchdowns and second in total quarterback rating behind Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.
Burrow is excited to have the opportunity to compete and possibly play in a championship but is focused on getting the win.
“We expected this,” said Burrow. “We have to do a good job of lessening the moment and practicing like any other week. One practice at a time, one game at a time.”
This season, LSU has played and beat five top 10 opponents (two being ranked within the top five). From a confidence standpoint, Burrow and many of his teammates feel like they are ready for the moment.
“We’re battle tested,” Burrow said. “I think we are a super mature team who will be able to handle it.”
The Heisman trophy winner is aided with tier one talent at wide receivers such as the Biletnikoff Award winner Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson Terrace Marshall, Jr. and tight end Thaddeus Moss. Jefferson feels that battling against his own teammates has helped him prepare for this game but also become one of the best receivers in college football.
“Ja’Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall. Competing with each other, just trying to out do one another have definitely helped me,” said Jefferson. “In the offseason, we definitely worked out butt off.”
For Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron, he knows this game is going to be one of the Tigers toughest games.
“This is going to be a war,” said Orgeron. “This is going to be one of the hardest offenses we’ve tried to stop since I’ve been here at LSU.”
The Sooners for the third year straight are in the College Football Playoff under head coach Lincoln Riley. This is their fourth appearance overall and many were not sure if they would be here.
As the season has progressed, the Sooners have earned their right and spot in the College Football Playoff and Riley is proud of his teams improvement.
“I think we’ve had different challenges throughout the year and we’ve been able to face most of them and come out on the good end,” said Riley. “Our goal has been to play our best every game, and we’ve put forth a schedule that had that and only that in mind.”
Being in the college football playoff may not be new to the Sooners and their fans but there is a new face at quarterback this time for the Sooners in Jalen Hurts. Hurts has led the Sooners to their 12-1 record after rebounding from their 48-41 loss to Kansas State on October 26.
As the Sooners practiced throughout the week, Hurts remained chill, comfortable but focused and determined when speaking about this game.
“I think everybody here has had the opportunity to play in big games and venues,” Hurts said. “It’s all about executing, preparing well and doing your job.”
Hurts was this years Heisman runner up and completing 71.8 percent of his passes while throwing 32 touchdowns. The All Big 12 First team quarterback is not getting much attention or praise as of late but knows that he and his team are ready for this moment.
“When you talk about situations we’ve experienced, we’ve found ways to overcome them to win,” said Hurts. “We’re battle tested. We have learned a lot about ourselves and the identity of what this team is.”
For this year’s Sooners offense, they have their standout wide receiver in CeeDee Lamb who made the All Big 12 First team. For Lamb, he is embracing the underdog role and is using that for motivation.
“You come here to play the number one team in the country, there’s no more motivation in that and everybody is counting us out which is fine,” said Lamb.
Defensively, the Sooners are without three of their starters. Luckily, they have their outstanding linebacker in Kenneth Murray who leads the team in tackles and second in sacks.
Even through all of that, Murray is confident in the defense ability to play at a high level unlike past seasons.
“The present has a different narrative than the past and that’s facts,” said Murray. “We plan to come out and execute and we have played some good defense here at Oklahoma.”
The Sooners rank 25th in total defense this year compared to the Tigers 32nd.
Gametime is set for 4 p.m. and the winner will play Ohio State or Clemson for the national title on January 13, 2020. The last time these two teams met, it was in the 2004 Sugar Bowl where the two teams faced off for a national championship. The Tigers won 21-14 in which would be current coach at the time, Nick Saban, first national title.
