Guy: Post-season play will define Burrow’s legacy
All season long, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow has been compared with the best players in the country or the best players in LSU history. With all due respect, that conversation is over.
LSU defeated Georgia 37-10 effectively securing Burrow’s bid to win Heisman in a landslide. He will become LSU’s first Heisman winner since 1959 - and likely by a historic margin.
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He started shattering LSU records in the 7th game of the season. He's led LSU to its second-ever 13-0 start. And in the Tigers’ regular-season finale, he became the SEC recor
LSU’s unlikely hero is also on pace to set the NCAA single-season record for completion percentage record having completed 77.9% of his passes - more than a full point above Colt McCoy’s record of 76.7% in 2008.
The narrative now evolves into where he’ll rank in SEC and college football history, which LSU’s post-season will ultimately define.
When considering all-time greats, there seem to be a few recurring themes: statistics, Heisman moments, big wins, championships and a great story.
Burrow’s got the numbers. With potentially three games remaining he has 4,715 yards and 48 touchdowns. As the first player in SEC history to eclipse the 4,000-yard and 40 touchdown mark in the same season, he has an opportunity to take a Maravich-esque stranglehold on these record books.
On paper, he blew away season numbers of former Heisman greats like Matt Leinart after just ten games. Leinart completed 65.3% of his passes with 33 touchdowns 3,362 yards the year he took home college football’s most prestigious award.
In 2010, Cam Newton had what many regard as the greatest season in college football history. While the two players style are about as similar as a seafood gumbo and a chocolate-covered buckeye, Burrow compares favorably to Newton even after accounting for Newton’s rushing forte.
During Newton’s dream season he accounted for 308 total yards per game and 3.57 touchdowns per game. Burrow has accounted for 384 yards per game and 3.91 touchdowns per game.
Take a look at this graphic from LSU football comparing his numbers before the win over Georgia to every Heisman quarterback since 2000.
In fact, his season on paper compares favorably with almost any Heisman winner resumé ever. Especially when you consider the level of competition has played.
LSU is 12-0 with wins in four top-10 matchups. LSU will play #4 Georgia in the SEC Championship Saturday, and could potentially meet #3 Clemson and #1 his former team Ohio State. That would make seven wins from top-10 matchups should that come to fruition and the Tigers win out.
Those kind of games are the games people remember. And for Burrow his entire season has been memorable.
Was his Heisman moment 3rd and 17 against Texas? Perhaps it was sealing the win in Tuscaloosa with a first down run. Maybe it was an off the field moment such as being carried off the field after beating Alabama for the first time since 2011, or trotting out to midfield on Senior Night in a jersey bearing the name “Burreaux.” It may have been a more lighthearted moment when he shined the brightest under a full moon against Mississippi State.
Many are arguing it was Burrow’s scramble and toss to Justin Jefferson in the SEFC Championship. It certainly left enough jaws dropped.
While all of these moments will certainly be enshrined in LSU lore for eternity, they lack the dramatic effect of a last-minute come from behind score in a marquee game such as Vince Young’s 4th and 5 scramble for a touchdown to dismantle the USC dynasty in 2005.
He may add such a piece to his portfolio soon enough, but thus far he has played so flawlessly he has yet to play with a deficit late in a game. Most of his late-game plays have been to reclaim a two-score lead.
Burrow’s Heisman moment has been every moment he has taken the field. He’s had what might be the most consistent season in college football history.
His most underwhelming performance was actually the game he shocked the entire LSU fan base by tying the LSU record for passing touchdowns before halftime against Georgia Southern in the first game of the season. He was nearly flawless in that game going 23-27 with five touchdowns and a season-low 278 yards. Seriously that was his season-low.
He truly has not had a single game where he was not genuinely special.
He has yet to complete less than 71% of his passes - a particularly interesting feat after completing around 50% of his passes in eight of his first nine games as a Tiger.
Granted, one must cut Burrow a bit of slack for his early career struggles at LSU. He did, after all, arrive on campus just weeks before the season and immediately won the starting position. It's not often you see players able to win a role like that so quickly.
Joe Burrow has had a weird, winding journey to get where he's at.
“There's nothing more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it.”
Those were the words of Tyrion Lannister in the infamous conclusion of Game of Thrones as Bran Stark completed his unorthodox route to becoming ruler of the six kingdoms.
Burrow's rise to greatness has been just as unorthodox and far more compelling. It's one of the most unlikely stories in sports.
The Ohio native grew up dreaming of playing for Nebraska like his older brothers. However, his interest in the Cornhuskers was not mutual.
He then fell in love with the home-state team, the Ohio State Buckeyes. He played in Columbus for three seasons, but ultimately got buried on the depth chart behind stars like Dwayne Haskins and JT Barrett.
After failing to win the starting position once more at Ohio State, he decided to transfer. Many thought he would transfer to another in-state school, Cincinnati. It actually made a lot of sense at the time.
But, Burrow went against the grain. Burrow had only been to Louisiana once for a bowl game his father coached in many years ago. He was utterly unfamiliar with the state.
Regardless he still opted to go to LSU, a team with a putrid reputation for developing quarterbacks and passing the ball.
He decided to play for a coach on the hot seat after a roller-coaster season where LSU would get upset by Troy at home. And LSU coach Ed Orgeron didn't exactly have a resumé that inspired confidence in developing a passing game.
He was a career defensive line coach. And his support staff on the offensive side of the ball featured Steve Ensminger who was being given a second chance to coordinate the LSU offense after the Matt Canada marriage fizzled out. Orgeron’s time at Ole Miss definitely raised red flags for LSU fans.
Nevertheless, the Ohio quarterback persisted and joined the Tigers. And LSU’s offense was nearly entirely comprised of seemingly unwanted commodities.
Add in a low-level 29-year-old NFL assistant and the rest is history.
LSU’s offense is a group of misfits. But, thanks to Burrow’s success, it's one of the most productive units in college football history. It's a fairy tale story.
He'll certainly be remembered as the best player in LSU history.
The next three games will define if he's the greatest player in college football history or not.
Get your popcorn ready. This could be good.
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