Joe Burrow’s Eight Total Touchdowns Led LSU To A Blowout Semifinal Win Over Oklahoma

LSU football will play for a national championship. The Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners face off in the Peach Bowl, which served as the 1-4 game in this year’s College Football Playoff, and in one of the most complete offensive performances we’ve ever seen in a game of this magnitude, LSU came out on top, 63-28.

You never want to say a game is over before the clock hits zero. However, this game wasn’t just over by the half — everyone in the stadium would have been wise to head home and make dinner and get comfortable before Clemson and Ohio State play a little later in the day. LSU so thoroughly dominated Oklahoma that there was no path back for the Sooners barring an historic collapse by the Tigers, one that did not end up happening.

In fact, to say the first half was thoroughly dominated by LSU is a gigantic understatement. Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy winning signal caller who probably got unofficially selected No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals sometime in the second quarter, went 21-for-27 with 403 yards and seven touchdowns — bold and italics and all caps incoming — IN THE FIRST HALF. There was nothing the Sooners could do outside of hope for the best, and even then, it didn’t work.

Here, in order, are the seven touchdown passes Burrow threw:

Burrow also did this, which made me scream “OH COME ON” from a sofa somewhere in upstate New York.

It wasn’t just a record-setting half for Burrow, as his favorite receiver on the afternoon, Justin Jefferson, set a playoff record with four receiving touchdowns. For the first 30 minutes of action, Jefferson had nine receptions and 186 yards.

Oklahoma had a few moments on offense in the first half, including this absolutely ridiculous grab from the brilliant CeeDee Lamb.

But for the most part, the Sooners just could not get much of anything going. They were outgained in the half, 497-160, and struggled to run the ball. Jalen Hurts couldn’t really get going through the air, either, going 5-for-18 for 101 yards and a pick.

The second half started out similarly, with the Tigers getting the ball first and marching down the field. Upon getting the ball down to Oklahoma two-yard line, Burrow called his own number and snuck it in for his eighth touchdown of the afternoon.

The remainder of the half was far less explosive — Oklahoma went onto score a pair of touchdowns via lengthy drives, while Burrow sat for the entire fourth quarter and the Tigers got some of their backups a bit of run, which resulted in one score in the fourth quarter.

Burrow ended the game 29-for-39 for 493 yards and seven scores along with his one rushing touchdown. In all, LSU gained a ludicrous 692 yards of offense, while the usually potent Sooner offense was limited to 322 yards of total offense. Now, the Tigers will sit it back and wait until a little later in the evening to find out whether they’ll take on Clemson or Ohio State in the national championship game. While they’d be the home team due to being the No. 1 seed, that’ll be bolstered by the fact that the title game will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in Louisiana on Jan. 13.