National Football Foundation

The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame recognizes No. 1 LSU (15-0) as the recipient of the 2019 NFF MacArthur Bowl Championship Trophy, following their 42-25 victory over No. 3 Clemson (14-1) in the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship Presented by AT&T before a crowd of 76,885 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.  An event formally presenting and honoring the team will take place at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta this spring.
 
LSU's name will be carved alongside the greatest teams in college football history and for the third time on the MacArthur Bowl, which is housed at the Hall in Atlanta. An event honoring the team will take place at the Hall during the spring. LSU is 15-0 for the first time in school history and is just the second team in FBS history to go 15-0 in a season. Seven of LSU's 15 wins came against teams ranked in the Top 10, the most of any team in college football history.
 
"It's an honor to be here today representing Louisiana State University, the National Championship, the Fighting LSU Tigers," said Coach Ed Orgeron. "So proud of our football team. I do believe it's one of the greatest accomplishments in football history. So proud of Joe Burrow, the leadership that he brought to our football team; he's one of the best football players I've seen in a long time. He's even a better young man. So proud of our coaching staff, the job that they did all year. We started working last January 17th [which] was our first football school. We've worked one year, and I reminded the team how we got here."
 
Orgeron's 2019 Tigers were led by Burrow, who claimed offensive MVP honors and set multiple records in a CFP title game, including passing for 463 yards and five touchdowns. The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback also ran for 58 yards and another score, which gave him six TDs on the night for an additional CFP record. Tiger linebacker Patrick Queen made eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks, to claim defensive MVP honors.
 
With the win, LSU claims the MacArthur Bowl for the third time in the school's history. The Tigers previously won the MacArthur Bowl in 2003 under coach Nick Saban and again in 2007 under Les Miles. (LSU also won a national crown with Paul Dietzel as the coach in 1958, a year before the NFF began presenting the MacArthur Bowl.) A team in the SEC has now claimed the trophy 18 times.