The Joe Burrow Touchdown Bracket Sweet Sixteen: Day Five

Nobody would revere the NCAA Basketball Tournament if the Sweet Sixteen was all 1-4 seeds, the Elite Eight was 1 and 2’s, or the Final Four was all 1’s. When we launched the Joe Burrow Touchdown Bracket, I was afraid things would go according to script and there would be no drama.

Amidst the uncertainty, a Cinderella has risen.

Terrace Marshall’s 20-yard second quarter catch against Auburn has made a stunning run to the Elite Eight as a 10 seed. Three matchups as underdogs, three blowout wins. The whole world (just go with it) will be watching as it takes on one of the bracket’s titans: Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s receiving TD against Alabama. For those keeping track, that matchup will take place on May 30, and I absolutely cannot wait for that one.

But before we get there, we have the second half of a Sweet Sixteen to finish up. Let’s head back to the Get the Nat Region.

No. 1: Ja’Marr Chase’s 52 yard first quarter bomb against Clemson

Why it should advance:

One of my favorite comedy tropes is characters getting interrupted mid-sentence by a dramatic event that negates the thing they were saying.

Clemson was saying to themselves, “This LSU offense isn’t too bad. We’ve won 29 games in a row. This is gonna be a piece of ca-” and then Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr chase dropped a massive cartoon wrench on their heads.

There’s something so fitting about LSU’s offensive breakthrough being such an explosive play. It was an announcement that the LSU offense had arrived for its final conquest. Its evisceration of all of college football was underway. This is what Clemson was about to deal with for three more hours.

No. 4: Justin Jefferson’s 19 yard opening touchdown against Oklahoma

Why it should advance:

When the bracket was created, each of Justin Jefferson’s four (lmao) touchdowns against the Sooners were 4 seed, you know, to symbolize the fact that Justin Jefferson caught four (LMAO) touchdowns in a Playoff game.

Only this one survived the first two rounds.

The play is awesome as the speedy, nimble Jefferson muscles himself and a tagalong Sooner into the endzone, the start of the greatest offensive onslaught in the history of LSU football. That’s gotta be worth something.