Three Observations from LSU's Record-Setting Peach Bowl Performance

LSU is off to its first national championship appearance since 2011 after a 63-28 win over Oklahoma. It’ll be a battle of the Tigers after Clemson’s thrilling win over Ohio State in the final minutes of the Fiesta Bowl.

Here are a few observations from LSU's big win over the Sooners.

Another day of records for Burrow and company

Tight end Thaddeus Moss went over to junior receiver Justin Jefferson midway through the second quarter. There were still six minutes to go in the first half and Jefferson had just capped off a four-touchdown half that left Moss perplexed.

"I went over to him after he scored the fourth one and I asked him, 'Hey can you spread the wealth around a little,' " Moss said. "But I'm just so happy for him. I know these last few weeks Ja'Marr had sort of been stealing the limelight, but 'Jets' was the man the first half of the season.”

Apparently quarterback Joe Burrow heard the conversation. On the ensuing possession Moss got his time to shine, scoring from 62 yards out on the second play of the drive, extending the LSU lead to 42-14.

That's just how well it was clicking for the LSU offense Saturday night against the Sooners. The Tigers scored touchdowns on seven of their eight first-half possessions.

Burrow, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner, had 493 yards and scored eight total touchdowns, both College Football Playoff records. He also broke Tommy Hodson's record for the most touchdown passes in program history.

Most importantly, outside of Jefferson's albatross, Burrow spread the ball around. Moss had four catches, Marshall had six, while Ja'Marr Chase and Derrick Dillon each had two.

"We go into every game thinking nobody can stop us. That's the way we think," Burrow said. "We think we need to score every time we touch the ball. If we don't, then we're still kind of chasing that perfect game. It's always something to get better at, and today was a lot of fun, but still room to improve."

Jefferson put up historic numbers of his own, hauling in 14 receptions for 227 yards and four touchdowns on the evening. The catches and yards were both Peach Bowl records, while the four touchdowns set a New Year's Six and College Football Playoff record.

“When someone's hot, why not keep going to them," Jefferson said. "So Joe just kept finding me on the field, just making those big plays. Just like coach said, on the big plays, feel the emotion. So just going out there, doing what I got to do."

Chris Curry steps up

Clyde Edwards-Helaire's availability for Saturday was in question all week long. And if he couldn't play, which of the three freshmen running backs would step up? Edwards-Helaire did play but wasn't at full strength, so the Tigers used him scarcely. They simply didn't need the injured back for most of the night, so why push him?

Outside of two carries for 14 yards for Edwards-Helaire, the Tigers accumulated 160 yards on the ground.

Freshman running back Chris Curry carried the load, rushing for 89 yards on 16 carries. Fellow freshman Tyrion Davis-Price ran four times for 25 yards.

"Chris has come a long way and he's proved on a daily basis to his teammates and his coaches he's worthy of the game he played tonight," head coach Ed Orgeron said. "I'm excited about him. I'm excited about the other backs, too.

"I'm really proud of Clyde. Clyde was hurt, but he wanted to play for the team. He played in some situations and did a good job."

LSU defense halts Oklahoma's offense

The Peach Bowl was a matchup between college football's top two offenses, with only two-tenths of a yard separating the Tigers (554.4 yards) and Sooners (554.2). It was two of the country's top-5 offenses from a scoring perspective. Yet only one came to play Saturday.

Oklahoma was held to 322 yards of total offense and scored 28 points, 21 of which came after the Tigers had built a 35-7 first-half lead. LSU forced three-and-outs on three of the Sooners' four opening possessions, allowing the offense to take command of the game on the other end.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts was sacked twice by outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson and pressured countless times. Hurts rushed for just 57 yards Saturday after rushing for 1,255 yards and 18 touchdowns prior to the Peach Bowl dud.

Hurts was repeatedly forced from the pocket to throw on the run, and the much-improved Tigers secondary kept the senior Sooners quarterback in check.

Hurts completed just 15 of his 31 passes for 217 yards and threw an interception, his worst outing of the season. Other than a few explosive plays from wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in the first half, there was little for Oklahoma to get excited about as Hurts struggled with his accuracy.

"We had pressure on the quarterback. We felt we could win the one-on-ones with them," Orgeron said. "We stopped the run game. Coach Aranda had a tremendous game plan. The counter read, I haven't seen anybody stop it. The key was Jalen Hurts not beating us with his feet. We did a great job with that.

"We thought CeeDee Lamb would be hard to cover but we didn't think he would drop back and throw the football on us to beat us. Coach made them one-dimensional. We had a great pass rush. Very proud of Coach Aranda and the whole defensive staff. They worked very hard this week."

LSU is playing its very best on the defensive side of the ball at the most opportune time of the season and will need that to continue with a talented Clemson offense on deck.