Honestly, if you sat down and tried to play a season of Madden on the easiest setting, you'd still have a hard time putting up the numbers we saw in the 2019 LSU football stats. It's been several years since Joe Burrow and that squad lit the world on fire, but looking back at the data now, it feels even more absurd than it did in the moment. We aren't just talking about a "good" offense. We are talking about a total demolition of the record books that basically changed how the SEC—and college football as a whole—is played.
Before 2019, LSU was known for "three yards and a cloud of dust." They had an old-school, run-heavy identity that felt sorta stuck in the 1990s. Then Joe Brady showed up, Joe Burrow turned into a football god, and suddenly the Tigers were dropping 50 points on people like it was a warm-up drill.
The Numbers That Simply Don't Make Sense
When you look at the raw team production, the first thing that jumps out is the scoring. LSU finished the season with 726 total points. That is an average of 48.4 points per game. Think about that for a second. In a 60-minute football game, they were averaging nearly seven touchdowns every single time they stepped on the turf.
They didn't just dink and dunk their way down the field either. The total offense was a staggering 568.4 yards per game. They led the nation in that category, and it wasn't particularly close. What’s even weirder is how efficient they were. You've probably seen teams put up big yards in "garbage time" or against weak non-conference opponents. But LSU did this against seven Top-10 teams. They beat the preseason AP Top 4 (Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and Oklahoma) by an average of 21 points.
Joe Burrow’s Video Game Campaign
We have to talk about Joe. There is no discussing the 2019 LSU football stats without acknowledging that Burrow had arguably the greatest single season for a quarterback in the history of the sport.
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- Passing Yards: 5,671
- Passing Touchdowns: 60 (An FBS record at the time)
- Completion Percentage: 76.3%
- Interceptions: Only 6
The completion percentage is what gets me. To throw the ball 527 times and have over 76% of those passes caught is basically unheard of at the college level. Most QBs are thrilled to hit 65%. Burrow was operating with a level of precision that felt like he was playing against air. His passer rating of 202.0 was a record that shattered what people thought was possible.
Beyond the Quarterback: A Perfect Storm of Talent
It wasn't just a one-man show, though. You had a receiving corps that was basically a future NFL Pro Bowl roster. Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson both went over 1,500 yards. That is a stat that feels fake.
Ja'Marr Chase finished with 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns, averaging a massive 21.2 yards per catch. Justin Jefferson wasn't far behind with 1,540 yards and 18 scores. When you have two guys on the same team who are both capable of being the #1 option at the professional level, defenses just sort of give up. If you doubled Chase, Jefferson was open. If you dropped into a deep zone, Clyde Edwards-Helaire would gas you for a 20-yard gain on a draw play.
Speaking of Clyde, people forget how vital he was. He rushed for 1,414 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also caught 55 passes out of the backfield. He was the ultimate safety valve for Burrow. When the Tigers needed a tough three yards against Auburn or Alabama, Clyde was the guy who got it done.
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The Schedule Was Actually Terrifying
One of the biggest misconceptions about high-scoring teams is that they "padded their stats" against bad teams. LSU’s 2019 schedule was a gauntlet.
- Texas (Austin): They went into a hostile environment and dropped 45.
- Florida: They scored 42 against a Top-10 defense.
- Auburn: A gritty 23-20 win where the stats weren't flashy, but the win was crucial.
- Alabama (Tuscaloosa): 46 points against Nick Saban in his own house.
- Georgia (SEC Title): 37-10 blowout.
- Oklahoma (Peach Bowl): 63 points. Burrow had 7 touchdowns... in the first half.
- Clemson (Title Game): 42 points to seal the 15-0 record.
The Defensive Side of the Ball
Because the offense was so loud, people sort of ignore the defense. Early in the year, the defense was kinda leaky. They gave up 38 to Texas and 38 to Vanderbilt. But by the end of the season, they were a brick wall.
Derek Stingley Jr., as a true freshman, had 6 interceptions. He was basically a "no-fly zone" for opposing quarterbacks. You had Grant Delpit, Patrick Queen, and Jacob Phillips flying around. In the SEC Championship against Georgia, they only allowed 10 points. In the National Championship against a loaded Clemson team, they held Trevor Lawrence and company to just 25.
Why These Stats Matter Today
The 2019 LSU season changed the math of college football. It proved that you could win a national title with a high-flying, pro-style spread offense even in the "defensive-minded" SEC. It paved the way for the offensive explosions we see now at schools like Tennessee or even Alabama under later iterations.
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If you are looking to replicate or study this kind of production, here are some actionable ways to apply the "LSU Model" to your own football analysis or coaching:
- Prioritize Completion Percentage over Volume: Burrow's success wasn't just about throwing a lot; it was about never wasting a throw.
- The "Third Option" Rule: LSU was unstoppable because their third and fourth options (Terrace Marshall Jr. and Thaddeus Moss) would be WR1s on almost any other team.
- Verticality in the SEC: Don't be afraid to test the deep middle. LSU exploited the space between the linebackers and safeties better than anyone.
The 2019 LSU football stats are a reminder that occasionally, the stars align—the right coach, the right QB, and a generational group of receivers—to create something that we probably won't see again for a long, long time.
To truly understand the impact, you should go back and watch the Alabama or Oklahoma game film. The stats tell you they were great; the film shows you they were inevitable.
Detailed breakdowns of individual game logs and advanced metrics are still available on the NCAA and LSU sports official archives if you want to see exactly how these numbers were built, play-by-play.
Next Steps for Your Research:
- Compare the 2019 LSU passing stats to the 2020 Alabama or 2023 Washington offenses to see how the "standard" has shifted.
- Look into Joe Brady’s passing concepts, specifically the "Empty" sets that LSU used to create mismatches.
- Analyze the 2020 NFL Draft results to see how the talent from this specific 2019 roster translated to the professional level.