B4 AMERICAN PRESS MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2020

CFP Championship GameLSU vs. Clemson • 7 p.m. • ESPN • New Orleans

Clemson LSULocation Clemson, S.C. Baton Rouge (middle of nowhere) (middle of a traffic jam)

Founded 1889 1860

Foundedby Endowment from The lowest bidder Thomas Green Clemson (probably gov’s nephew)

Enrollment 25,822 30,987

Studentsexpected 8 Cancelled classesonTuesday Nickname Lil’ old Clemson Ol’ War Skul

Originalname Clemson Louisiana State Seminary Agricultural College of Learning & of South Carolina Military Academy

OddestMajor Center for Automotive English Research (probably NASCAR-related) Don’ttalkabout… School was modeled First school prez quit after Miss. State to go burn down (minus cowbells) most of Georgia

Schoollogo Tiger Paw Tiger Bait

Startedfootball 1896 1892

All-timerecord 738-452-44 781-402-47

Bowlrecord 25-20 27-23-1

Mascot Tigers Tigers

Stadium Memorial Stadium Tiger Stadium 81,500 102,321

StadiumNickname Death Valley Death Valley

Claimto First to claim it September temps “DeathValley” (or so they claim) rival real Death Valley

Entrancetradition Touch Howard’s Rock Touch “Win” baroftheteam (It came from the (It came from old real Death Valley) Tiger Stadium goal posts)

National 3 3championships 1981, 2016, 2018 1958, 2003, 2007

HeismanTrophies Zero Two But namesake John Billy Cannon, 1959 Heisman coached Joe Burrow, 2019 there from 1900-1903

Definingmoment Ohio State coach Billy Cannon Woody Hayes punched ran back Clemson LB; got him fired a punt

Lockerroombling A sliding board down Individual, futuristic to the putting green fold-down beds (yes, a putting green) for each player

Fundraisingarm IPTAY TAF I Pay Ten A Year Take All Funds

BiggestFan The Fridge The Shaq Daddy

Bestgolfer Lucas Glover David Toms

Seasonrecord 14-0 (8-0 ACC) 14-0 (8-0 SEC)

Winsovertop10teams 1 (Ohio State) 6 (if you count Texas)

2019Double-digitwins 12 11

Commonopponent Clemson 24 LSU 50 Texas A&M 10 Texas A&M 7

Can’texplain North Carolina was Ole Miss scored 38 points a 2-point conversion with 614 yards away from the upset of offense

ScooterHobbs

MEET THE SCHOOLS

EdOrgeron DaboSwinneyAge 58 50

Hometown Unknown swamp Mayberry

No,forreal,where? LaRose Birmingham, Ala. (same thing)

Lookslike Mean guard in Grown-up Southern prison Opie movie

AlmaMater Northwestern St. Alabama

Playingexperience Played DL (1981-83) Lettered 1990-92

Schoolscoachedat 11 (plus the Saints) Two

Nickname BéBé Dabo is not enough?

Accent Cajun gravel Deep South

Mentor Pete Carroll Gene Stallings Seahwaks, ex-USC Ex-Alabama

Gotcurrentjob Went 6-2 as interim Went 4-3 as interim HC in 2016 after HC in 2008 after Les Miles fired Tommy Bowden fired

Previousheadcoach 10-25 in three Noneexperience years at Ole Miss

Reactiontohishiring What? Really? Who? (Chuckling)

Who’slaughingnow? Nobody Him

Catchphrase “Ya ya ya ya ya “We get no ... football” respect”

Backupphrase “Hold that Ti-gah!” “We get no respect”

Overallrecord 55-36 130-30

LSU/Clemsonrecord 39-9 Same

Nationalchampionships “We coming!” Two

Mayneverlivedown Lost to Troy Lost to S. Carolina 2017 5 straight years

ScooterHobbs

THE COACHES-282 Feet below sea level of the real Death Valley in California.

Both LSU and Clemson claim the name Death Valley for their stadiums, but both will have to sink to new levels to own it. Baton Rouge is 56 feet above sea level, Clemson, S.C., is at 725 feet.

0 Number of times the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff (which LSU is) has gone on to win the national championship in

the previous five years since the CFP began. Clemson is the No. 3 seed, which has also never won. The No. 2 seed has won three times, the No. 4 seed twice.

1 National ranking of LSU’s offense both in points per game (47.6) and yards per game (560.8). It’s also the national ranking of Clem-

son’s defense in points allowed (11.3 ppg). Clemson is second in yards allowed (264.7).

3 Number of previous national championships won by both LSU and Clemson. LSU’s came in the 1958, 2003 and 2007 seasons. Clem-

son’s came in the 1981, 2016 and 2018 seasons.

5-0 Clemson’s record against the SEC during its 29-game win-ning streak. It includes two wins over South Carolina and

Texas A&M, with one over Alabama (in last year’s national championship game). Overall, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is 18-9 vs. the SEC.

6 Number of wins over top 10 teams for LSU this season at the time of the game. All but one finished the regular season in the top 10.

Clemson has played and beaten just one, Ohio State in the CFP semifinal. Ed Orgeron has won 10 of his last 11 against top 10 teams and is 11-3 overall at LSU.

11 Number of games this season where LSU scored 40 or more points, breaking the school record of nine in 2011. It ties Ala-

bama’s team last year for the most 40-point games in SEC history.

13 Times in the last 14 years that an SEC school has played for the national championship spanning both the BCS and College

Football Playoff format. It includes two SEC vs. SEC matchups — LSU-Alabama in the BCS after the 2011 season and Georgia-Alabama in the CFP finals after the 2017 season. This will be LSU’s third appearance in the span (2007, 2011, 2019). The Tigers’ 2003 BCS championship was followed by a two-year drought for the SEC.

14 Number of LSU players who will be wearing the SEC graduate patch since they’ve already graduated — Joe Burrow, Connoe

Culp, Lloyd Cushenberry, Derrick Dillon, Michael Divinity, Breiden Fehoko, Blake Ferguson Kristian Fulton, Rashard Lawrence, Adrian Magee, Ste-phen Sullivan, Ray Thornton, Bradara Traore, Zach Von Rosenberg.

17 Number of different states represented on LSU’s roster, includ-ing walk-ons. There are 57 from Louisiana, followed by Texas

with 14 and Alabama with 7. Clemson is represented by 18 states, plus one foreign country as linebacker Ruke Orhorhoro is from Lagos, Nigeria.

18 Number of touchdown receptions for both LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. The two currently share the SEC and

school season record after Jefferson had four in the win against Okla-homa. Florida’s Reidel Anthony also had 18 in the 1996 season.

19 Number of previous times LSU has played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The Tigers are 14-5 in their

Dome away from home, most recently a 27-0 win over BYU to open the 2017 season. That game that was scheduled for Houston but moved due to heavy flooding. The Tigers have won 10 of their last 11 in the Superdo-me. Clemson has played in the Superdome only once, losing to Alabama 24-6 in the 2017 Sugar Bowl CFP semifinals.

20 Consecutive years that LSU has been to a bowl game, the fourth-longest streak in the country, trailing Virginia Tech (27),

Georgia (24) and Oklahoma (21).

20 Number of different LSU players who have caught a pass this season, including Joe Burrow, who caught one he threw that

was batted back at him before he snagged it and gained 16 yards in the SEC championship game.

25 Consecutive quarters in which LSU has not trailed. It dates back to the third quarter of the Auburn game on Oct. 26. The Tigers

have trailed only five times all season and each time scored on their next possession to retake the lead.

25-0 Quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s record as a starter at Clemson since he took over the job in the fifth game of

the 2018 season. Lawrence was 52-2 as a four-year starter at Lawrencev-ille (Ga.) High School.

29 Consecutive wins by Clemson, which dates back to the CFP semifinals after the 2017 season, a 24-6 loss to Alabama. It

marks the second consecutive season that LSU has finished against the team with the nation’s longest winning streak. Last year it was Central Florida’s 25-game winning streak, which the Tigers broke.

32 Number of previous LSU games where ESPN’s Game Day was on site, as it will be today. LSU is 20-12 in previous games with

the show there. It will be the fifth time this season as the who was also on hand for the Texas, Florida, Alabama and Georgia games. It’s Clemson’s 23rd game with Game Days. Clemson is 15-7 in previous games.

49 Number of points LSU scored in the first half against Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl semifinals, which tied the all-time record

for the most points in a half of any bowl game. Also, it’s the number of points Clemson allowed to West Virginia in the first half of the 2012 Orange Bowl, which is the record the Tigers tied.

53 Number of quarters out of 56 in which LSU has scored this sea-son. One was the fourth quarter of the Mississippi State game,

which was well in hand. The others were the first quarter of the Auburn game and the third quarter of the Alabama game. Clemson has scored in all but five quarters this season.

55 Number of TD passes thrown by LSU’s Joe Burrow this season, breaking the SEC record of 44 set by Missouri’s last year and

almost doubling the LSU record of 29. He would need three to tie the NCAA record set by Hawaii’s Colt Brennan in 2006. Burrow has thrown 23 TD passes of 20 yards or more, which also leads the nation.

67 Number of LSU’s 85 touchdown drives this season that took three minutes or less.

74 Number of points it took to beat LSU the last time the Tigers lost a game. It also took seven overtimes and several controver-

sial plays for Texas A&M to win 74-72 in the final regular season game of 2018.

77.6 Completion percentage of Joe Burrow, which is on pace to break the NCAA single-season record of 76.7 set by Colt

McCoy of Texas in 2008. Fun fact: his percentage under pressure is even higher, 78.8 percent.

100 Number of plays Clemson ran against LSU the last time they played, in the 2012 Peach Bowl in Atlanta. In fact, Clemson’s

100th play was a 37-yard field to win 25-24 as time expired for its only lead of the game. LSU controlled most of the game, but its defense wore down in the fourth quarter as Clemson’s up-tempo style scored the final 12 points of the game.

102 Plays of 20 yards or more this season by LSU — 21 rushing plays and 81 passing plays. LSU has 21 pass plays and four

runs of over 40 yards. Clemson has 94 plays of 20 or more yards, 22 of more 40 or more.

560Miles, as the crow flies, from Clemson to Baton Rouge. If you had to drive it, it would be 650 miles.

7,898 Total yards of offense for LSU this season, which shattered the school record of 6,175 set by the 2007

national championship team. ScooterHobbs

LSU-CLEMSON BY THE NUMBERS

MemorialTowerTillmanHallDaboSwinneyEdOrgeron

heritage are essential pieces of Orgeron’s soul. To lead LSU to the pinnacle of the sport right here in New Or-leans is the kind of storybook script that Orgeron couldn’t have dreamt up during his year off from coaching in 2014.

Orgeron has turned his career around by staying in the moment and never mak-ing it about himself, but what an oh-so-sweet moment that would be for the 58-year-old football lifer.

“I’m excited to be at LSU at home where we’re proud of our Cajun heritage,” Orgeron said. “We’re proud to be from Louisiana. I just feel at home here. People that made fun of my accent before, I thank them. That gave me internal motivation to do better, so I thank them.”

None of that is to suggest that anything will come easy tonight. The opposing group of Tigers haven’t lost since Jan. 1, 2018, and Clemson quarterback Trevor Law-rence hasn’t finished second in a game since he was a senior in high school.

For all of Swinney’s bel-lyaching about a perceived lack of respect for Clemson nationally, his program has undoubtedly become the preeminent force in college football — arguably even more so than Alabama.

Clemson is playing for

both its 30th consecutive victory and its third national championship in four years under Swinney. With a win, Clemson would become the first team this century to go undefeated while winning back-to-back titles.

That’s a dynasty any way you slice it. Clemson’s prodigious accomplishments during this run rank up there with some of the hallowed teams in football history. Swinney wants his team to embrace their chance at his-tory without losing sight of the task at hand.

“Certainly we reinforce from time to time what their opportunity is, but it’s not like we’re giving them anything they don’t know,” Swinney said. “They know. They’re very well aware of what they’ve been able to achieve. And listen, regard-less of what happens in the game tomorrow night, it’s really been a historic run.”

One way or the other, history will be made in New Orleans on tonight.

LSUContinued from B1

‘People that made fun of my accent before, I thank them. That gave me inter-nal motivation to do better ... .’

EdOrgeronLSU head coach

CLEMSON BOWL HISTORYRecord25-20

1940CottonBowlClemson 6, Boston College 3

1949GatorBowlClemson 24, Missouri 23

1951OrangeBowlClemson 15, Miami 14

1952GatorBowlMiami 14, Clemson 0

1957OrangeBowlColorado 27, Clemson 21

1959SugarBowlLSU 7, Clemson 0

1959BluebonnetBowlClemson 23, TCU 7

1977GatorBowlPittsburgh 34, Clemson 3

1978GatorBowlClemson 17, Ohio St. 15

1979PeachBowlBaylor 24, Clemson 18

1982OrangeBowlClemson 22, Nebraska 15

1985IndependenceBowlMinnesota 20, Clemson 13

1986GatorBowlClemson 27, Stanford 21

1988CitrusBowlClemson 35, Penn State 10

1989CitrusBowlClemson 13, Oklahoma 6

1989GatorBowlClemson 27, West Virginia 7

1991HallofFameBowlClemson 30, Illinois 0

1992CitrusBowlCalifornia 37, Clemson 13

1993PeachBowlClemson 14, Kentucky 13

1996GatorBowlSyracuse 41, Clemson 0

1996PeachBowlLSU 10, Clemson 7

1998PeachBowlAuburn 21, Clemson 17

1999PeachBowlMississippi St. 17, Clemson 7

2001GatorBowlVirginia Tech 41, Clemson 20

2001HumanitarianBowlClemson 49, Louisiana Tech 24

2002TangerineBowlTexas Tech 55, Clemson 15

2004PeachBowlClemson 27, Tennessee 14

2005ChampsSportsBowlClemson 19, Colorado 10

2006MusicCityBowlKentucky 28, Clemson 20

2007Chick-fil-ABowlAuburn 23, Clemson 20, O

2009GatorBowlNebraska 26, Clemson 21

2009MusicCityBowlClemson 21, Kentucky 13

2010MeinekeBowlSouth Florida 31, Clemson 26

2012OrangeBowlWest Virginia 70, Clemson 33

2012Chick-fil-ABowlClemson 25, LSU 24

2014OrangeBowlClemson 40, Ohio St. 35

2014RussellAthleticBowlClemson 40, Oklahoma 6

2015OrangeBowlCFPSemifinalsClemson 37, Oklahoma 17

2016CFPNationalChampionshipAlabama 45, Clemson 40

2016FiestaBowlCFPSemifinalClemson 31, Ohio St. 0

2017CFPNationalChampionshipClemson 35, Alabama 31

2018SugarBowlCFPSemifinalAlabama 24, Clemson 6

2018CottonBowlCFPSemifinalClemson 30, Notre Dame 3

2019CFPNationalChampionshipClemson 44, Alabama 16

2019FiestaBowlCFPSemifinalClemson 29, Ohio State 26

14/B4/LSU

on an amazingFOOTBALLseason this year!

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