LSU has put together a convincing resume for the season with wins over Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Texas A&M, Florida and Texas — and that 63-28 thumping of Oklahoma in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, a game that was not as close as the score indicates, as the Sooners scored in garbage time in the second half. The defense showed some holes in the first two-thirds of the season but locked opponents down after the wins over Alabama and Ole Miss.
LSU is now one win away from the program’s fourth national championship to go along with the ones they claimed in 1958, 2003 and 2007. After that shellacking of Oklahoma, LSU comes in as the sports betting favorite — but can they really stop Clemson’s 29-game winning streak? Check out this list of reasons why you should put your money on LSU to take the title.
Why Bet on LSU to Win the 2020 National Championship
No quarterback is like Joe Burrow
Do you think Ohio State wishes that they had found a way to keep Joe Burrow happy in their program? In the 2018 offseason, he transferred to LSU, and the rest is history. He started each of the Tigers’ 13 games in 2018, and he kept improving, which set the stage for his historic 2019 season, leading to a Heisman Trophy. Bringing in Joe Brady to install the spread attack made the tactical difference.
LSU leads the nation in yards per game, with 564.1, and they gain 7.9 yards per play and score 48.9 points per game. Burrow threw 55 touchdown passes, picking up 5,208 yards on 371 completions. His completion percentage is 77.6, and h only has six picks on the year. No defense has slowed Burrow down all season long; while Clemson may have the best defense in the nation, can they really expect to stop Burrow?
Clyde Edwards-Helaire is healthy
The LSU tailback only carried the ball twice for 14 yards against Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl. Chris Curry, Tyrion Davis-Price and John Emery split the bulk of the carries, but now that Edwards-Helaire has had time to heal, the LSU offense will have even more balance than they had against the Sooners. He had 136.9 all-purpose yards per game, second in the SEC, and he ran for 1,304 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season.
In the team’s wins over Alabama, Auburn and Florida, he ran for more than 100 yards in each game. Out of the backfield, eh is also a solid weapon as he caught 50 balls for 399 yards and a score.
LSU’s wide receivers are better than Ohio State’s
LSU brings in Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, two of the highest rated wide receivers in the nation. Tight end Thaddeus Moss is also a major part of the team’s passing game, and Terrace Marshall does his share of damage as well. Chase took home the Biletnikoff Award as the top wide receiver in the nation.
Jefferson and Chase have combined for 2,996 yards of offense and 36 touchdowns, and Moss caught 42 passes for 534 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Burrow can fit passes inside tight windows, which will make coverage a real challenge for Clemson.
This is essentially a home game for LSU
LSU’s campus is less than 100 miles from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Yes, there will be plenty of Clemson fans in the stands, but the whole state of Louisiana will be raucous for their team, and the stadium will be highly partisan. LSU has appeared in two national championship games in New Orleans, in 2003 and 2007, and won both of them. Even that 1958 national title team punched their ticket with a win in the Sugar Bowl that year — a win over Clemson. So things could be lining up for LSU at just the right time for that fourth title.
