It’s extremely difficult to quantify the greatest of anything in college football history, given the sheer absurdity of attempting apples-to-apples comparisons from 150 years of official action.
**Does Barry Sanders belong on the list of the 11 greatest players in collegiate history, even though he was a backup tailback to Thurman Thomas for his first two seasons at Oklahoma State?
**Does Nick Saban’s six national championships (Alabama, LSU) carry greater weight than Paul Bryant’s six NCAA titles at Alabama … because The Bear never had to deal with smaller roster sizes, high-stakes recruiting battles, television over-saturation or improved parity throughout the nation?
**Could the good people at Dr Pepper have chosen a better, uh, thing to play the role of ‘BIGFAN’ during Monday night’s season-ending commercial … instead of tasking Brian Bosworth with both duties at the most tense moments of this cliffhanger TV spot?
(For those who didn’t see it, here’s how The Boz made a curious entrance into the town of Fansville.)
These arguments might make for great debates on TV, sports radio or the Web, but it’s still hard to cite a true winner or loser, when the Tale Of The Tape generates similar positives.
Here’s one talking point that cannot be disparaged from any football historian or modern-day zealot: Joe Burrow might have capped the greatest season of any quarterback in college history on Monday night; and for those who find fault with the above statement … good luck finding a consensus alternative candidate.
In one glittering four-hour showcase, otherwise known as LSU’s 42-25 rout of Clemson in the College Football Playoff title game, Burrow:
**Propelled LSU to its fourth national championship in school history (five, if you coun’t the 1908 campaign).
**Secured the all-time NCAA record for touchdown passes in one season (60, breaking the mark previously held by Hawaii’s Colt Brennan).
**Made easy work of the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense (Clemson), nearly quadrupling the Tigers’ per-game allowance of 11.5 points (regular season/Fiesta Bowl win over Ohio State).
**Easily handled Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (zero passing TDs, one rushing) in the much-hyped battle of franchise-making quarterbacks. For his night, Burrow absurdly accounted for 463 passing yards and six touchdowns (one rushing).
**Added to his supreme legacy of capturing the Heisman Trophy, an SEC title and a national championship in the same season.
**Placed LSU in super-elite company, in terms of being one of college football history’s select 15-0 national champions.
**Vanquished any notion of the Cincinnati Bengals looking elsewhere for the No. 1 overall pick in next April’s NFL draft. It’s a match made in heaven, given the Bengals’ desperate need for a franchise quarterback … and Burrow’s deep Ohio roots.
