All about Joe Burrow: The quarterback who led LSU Tigers to their championship victory
Joe Burrow, the LSU Tiger's quarterback, closed his collegiate career in a spectacular style, winning the offensive MVP award in the team's 42-25 victory over Clemson Tigers in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Burrow broke the single-season passing touchdown record, 60, and LSU set the single-season points record in the poll era, 726.
The famed quarterback has played all four seasons in college, split between Ohio State and LSU. The college level player had been making news all round 2019, and the year saw him grow from a middling quarterback to a superstar everyone has been talking about. With his latest stellar victory, we bring to you some information about the budding star you must know about.
Began his career at Ohio State
The 23-year-old quarterback began his football career as a redshirt freshman in 2015 at Ohio State and make his debut for the Buckeyes in 2016. Before transferring to LSU, Burrow also played for the Buckeyes in 2016. Reports state that he transferred to LSU because he was buried on depth charts beneath Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett, and Dwayne Haskins.
A remarkable 2019 season
Burrow exhibited some of his best game during his first season at LSU with 2,894 passing yards and 16 touchdown passes. Although the team had three losses in 2019, they stull made the Fiesta Bowl and defeated UCF, 40-32. Before the 2020 national championship game against Clemson, Burrow had 5,208 passing yards and 55 touchdowns marked already. The year 2019 also saw him making into a top pick in the NFL Draft after he defeated Texas, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Heisman Trophy win
Burrow won the Heisman Trophy award in 2019 and gave a moving speech about his hometown of Athens, Ohio. He highlighted the acute poverty in the region, which ultimately resulted in a campaign being initiated with people donating thousands of dollars. Campaigns started for the Athens County Food Pantry and the food bank received over $350,000 in donations and provided more than 100,000 meals in the region.
"Coming from southeast Ohio, it’s a very impoverished area and the poverty rate is almost two times the national average," Burrow had said during his speech. “There’s so many people there that don’t have a lot and I’m up here for all those kids in Athens and Athens County that go home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after school. You guys can be up here too.”
Record-setting playoff game
Burrow's last test game in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Oklahoma in 2019 saw him setting game records. The star player threw seven touchdown passes and ran for one more. He also had 493 passing yards in the win, making it one of the best performances in a bowl game ever. His performance in the game paved the way for LSU to win against Clemson Tigers in the finals, ultimately helping them win the championship.