Throwback Thursday: The 2019 college football season was best of all-time
03/13/2025
By Chris Marler
On a random Thursday in March, more important thoughts come to mind—grocery lists, work assignments, and tee-ball practice times seem far more relevant for a grown adult in spring.
Admittedly, I have a way to go in being a better adult. Regardless, what crept in my mind on this random Thursday and stayed there like an annoying one hit wonder song you grow to hate, love, and hate all over again—why don’t we talk about how incredible the 2019 college football season was?
Clearly it was a great season for LSU, but as a whole it deserves the same level of recognition.
The 2007 season gets talked about all the time as the most exciting season in college football history. There’s some truth to that. For nine consecutive weeks, the No. 2 team in the country lost. It also produced the first true two-loss national champion in recent memory—clarifying, of course, that this excludes any debatable claims Alabama might have made.
We talk about that all the time. You know what else we talk about all the time? The greatest college football team of all-time is.
If you said 2001 Miami, then congrats, you’re wrong. Don’t worry, it’s probably not your fault, you’re most likely just the product of group think, social media echo chambers who have decided to die on a hill that 2001 Miami is the right answer, the only answer, and always will be the answer.
I don’t want to get into a back and forth debating who the best college football team of all-time is because it’s 2019 LSU. However, that’s an argument for another time.
We could dive into just how special that 2019 team was for roughly the 2019th time since that season ended. However, something we don’t talk about nearly enough—how great was that season in general?
The College Football Playoff consisted of four teams that were a combined 51-1. They had three first round quarterbacks, and two of those were No. 1 overall picks. And for good measure, the other quarterback in that group just won a Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP less than a month ago.
The 2019 season may not have had chaos, but it did have, arguably, the greatest collection of talent and teams we’ve seen…maybe ever.
January 13, 2020…
What was your favorite moment? pic.twitter.com/LzlD6b3R03
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) January 14, 2021
Joe Burrow had the greatest season of any quarterback in college football history. Justin Fields had 39 touchdowns and one interception through 13 games. Jalen Hurts had over 5,000 yards of offense and 52 touchdowns. Trevor Lawrence was in the middle of leading Clemson to 29 straight wins.
Again, that was just the CFB Playoff teams.
Blue bloods like Michigan, Notre Dame, and Penn State were all top 15 teams. New bloods like Oregon, Florida, and Georgia were all in the top ten. And by the way, there was a dramatic Iron Bowl finish that involved missed field goals and fans rushing the field.
Not too bad.
We may never see another season with that combination of elite teams and competitive balance. That reality makes LSU’s achievement even more remarkable. While this isn’t new or groundbreaking, it’s a thought that a college football fan turned writer couldn’t shake on a random Thursday in March.
