Sometimes everything falls into place.
Sometimes you can look at the puzzle pieces on the ground and instantly make the image on the box.
The accumulation of this LSU football team is exactly that, as it built a perfect storm which resulted in the first SEC team to finish 15-0 and defeat the Clemson Tigers (14-1, Atlantic Coast Conference).
We can all say that we saw it coming, but the prediction could not possibly prepare for the feeling that came when Joe Burrow kneeled the ball with 50 seconds left to secure the National Championship.
Nothing could prepare Tiger fans for that moment.
Coming back after a 10-win season with a coach and a quarterback whom no one wanted made the win that much sweeter.
Ed Orgeron and Burrow defeated a team that was boasting a 29-game win streak. They beat a team that had the projected first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft in Trevor Lawrence. And they triumphed over that team by a 17-point margin.
Even with these accomplishments, the win cemented one thing: the 2019 LSU Tigers are the best college football team to ever play the game.
A bold statement, but there has never been a team like this one.
To start, LSU swept every major award by winning the Heisman, the Broyles Award for best assistant coach, AP College Football Coach of the Year, the Fred Biletnikoff Award for the nation’s best wide receiver, among others.
With all these talented players, this offense delivered the most explosive season of all time, scoring the most points in the AP era with 726, including a whopping 95 touchdowns.
The biggest contributor had the best season for an offensive player in NCAA history, and it was not even close.
Burrow finished the season with the most passing touchdowns in a season with 60 while only throwing six interceptions. In addition to the passing touchdowns, he also ran for five more, which gives him the record for most touchdowns in a season.
Burrow will also go down as the second most accurate passer ever with a completion percentage of 76.3. Just missing the completion percentage record by .4.
Burrow will be first to tell you he could not do this alone, though his scrambling magic might give you the illusion that he can. He said in a podcast that he could have thrown the ball with his eyes closed and his receivers would go and get it.
The championship game illustrates this point exactly as Ja’Marr Chase seemed to always be one step ahead of the defense.
The Biletnikoff winner caught nine passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns to help LSU secure its fourth title.
The crazy part is, that it’s not that outrageous of a day for a man who averaged 21.2 yards a catch. Just another day at the office.
Chase carried the load in the Superdome, but another receiver stepped up in Atlanta against Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl and deserves to be mentioned as to why this offense will never be forgotten.
Justin Jefferson quietly had one of the best seasons as a wide receiver as he hauled in an NCAA-leading 111 passes and came in second in touchdowns with 18.Behind only fellow Tiger Chase.
Jefferson played when the lights were brightest and did exactly what was needed in the slot. No other game demonstrates this like the Peach Bowl against Oklahoma, where he always seemed to be in the end zone.
He finished that day with 14 catches for 227 yards and — this is not a typo — four touchdowns, which included some tough grabs in tight coverage.
While he did not win the best receiver in the nation, he deserves every part of that championship ring and adds to the greatest team to ever touch a college football.
Lastly, the two most underrated factors contributed to the undeniable success of the Tiger offense: the offensive line and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
The offensive line received the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s best, and it constantly gave Burrow time to find any route available.
Most importantly, it allowed LSU to become balanced by making easy running lanes for the hard-nosed running of Edwards-Helaire, who won the award for best all-around player.
Add in a defense consisting of All-American Derek Stingley Jr. and the rest of the defensive cast that includes Kristian Fulton, Grant Delpit and JaCoby Stevens, and you get a perfect storm that comes once in a lifetime
Yes, most of these names are leaving for the NFL, and two of LSU’s best assistant coaches — defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and passing game coordinator Joe Brady — will be moving on to other job, but that does not matter.
If you see anyone from this team, look them in the eyes and shake their hands because they supplied the best team ever and one that will not be topped for the foreseeable future.
As long as Coach Orgeron is around, maybe lightning will strike twice but until then, enjoy living in a time where LSU is the best college football team ever.