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The 2019 season

LSU finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 15–⁠0 under Ed Orgeron, after it beat Clemson 42–⁠25 in the CFP National Championship. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 LSU 46, No. 2 Alabama 41 (Nov 9, 2019). Two FBS teams finished unbeaten. 53 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Joe Burrow, QB, LSU, who also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien, Unitas Golden Arm, Manning and Lombardi.

The Heisman vote: Joe Burrow 2,608 points, Jalen Hurts 762
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Joe Burrow QB, LSU2,608841413
Jalen Hurts QB, Oklahoma76212231264
Justin Fields QB, Ohio State7476271187
Chase Young DE, Ohio State64320205173
Jonathan Taylor RB, Wisconsin18964483
J.K. Dobbins RB, Ohio State11423636
Trevor Lawrence QB, Clemson8832529
Chuba Hubbard RB, Oklahoma State6801146
Travis Etienne RB, Clemson250711
Tua Tagovailoa QB, Alabama241413

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

The 2019 Yale team
The 2019 Yale team: The Bulldogs defeated Cornell, 27–⁠16Photo: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The 2019 Yale season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1LSU (62)Southeastern Conference
2ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
3Ohio StateBig Ten
4GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference
5OregonPac-12
6FloridaSoutheastern Conference
7OklahomaBig 12
8AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
9Penn StateBig Ten
10MinnesotaBig Ten
11WisconsinBig Ten
12Notre DameFBS Independents
13BaylorBig 12
14AuburnSoutheastern Conference
15IowaBig Ten
16UtahPac-12
17MemphisAmerican Athletic Conference
18MichiganBig Ten
19App StateSun Belt Conference
20NavyAmerican Athletic Conference
21CincinnatiAmerican Athletic Conference
22Air ForceMountain West Conference
23Boise StateMountain West Conference
24UCFAmerican Athletic Conference
25TexasBig 12

Biggest upsets

Oct 19, 2019Illinois 24, 6Wisconsin 23Illinois +30
Oct 26, 2019Kansas State 48, 5Oklahoma 41Kansas State +23.5
Oct 12, 2019South Carolina 20, 3Georgia 17South Carolina +21
Oct 19, 2019Vanderbilt 21, 22Missouri 14Vanderbilt +21
Sep 21, 2019UCLA 67, 19Washington State 63UCLA +18.5
Nov 9, 2019Nevada 17, 24San Diego State 13Nevada +17
Sep 14, 2019Arizona State 10, 18Michigan State 7Arizona State +15.5
Nov 23, 2019Arizona State 31, 6Oregon 28Arizona State +13.5
Sep 7, 2019California 20, 14Washington 19California +13.5
Oct 31, 2019Georgia Southern 24, 20App State 21Georgia Southern +13.5
Oct 5, 2019Stanford 23, 15Washington 13Stanford +12.5
Oct 26, 2019Oklahoma State 34, 23Iowa State 27Oklahoma State +11

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

Most exciting games

Oct 19, 2019Virginia Tech 43, North Carolina 41
Oct 19, 201915Texas 50, Kansas 48
Aug 31, 201921Iowa State 29, Northern Iowa 26
Oct 19, 2019Georgia Southern 30, Coastal Carolina 27
Oct 12, 201922Baylor 33, Texas Tech 30
Aug 30, 2019Wake Forest 38, Utah State 35
Sep 7, 2019Minnesota 38, Fresno State 35
Nov 23, 2019Washington State 54, Oregon State 53

By CollegeFootballData.com’s excitement index: how far each team’s chance of winning swung, play by play. Games with an FBS team, decided by 16 points or fewer.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 2019, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalMinnesota: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 No. 20, Wk 9 No. 17, Wk 10 No. 13, Wk 11 No. 13, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 9, Wk 15 No. 15, Wk 16 No. 16, Final No. 1010 MinnesotaPenn State: Wk 1 No. 15, Wk 2 No. 15, Wk 3 No. 13, Wk 4 No. 13, Wk 5 No. 12, Wk 6 No. 12, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 9, Wk 14 No. 12, Wk 15 No. 12, Wk 16 No. 13, Final No. 99 Penn StateAlabama: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 9, Wk 16 No. 9, Final No. 88 AlabamaOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 5, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 10, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 6, Wk 16 No. 4, Final No. 77 OklahomaFlorida: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 11, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 9, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 7, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 10, Wk 14 No. 8, Wk 15 No. 7, Wk 16 No. 6, Final No. 66 FloridaOregon: Wk 1 No. 11, Wk 2 No. 16, Wk 3 No. 15, Wk 4 No. 16, Wk 5 No. 13, Wk 6 No. 13, Wk 7 No. 13, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 11, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 14, Wk 15 No. 13, Wk 16 No. 7, Final No. 55 OregonGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 10, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 4, Wk 16 No. 5, Final No. 44 GeorgiaOhio State: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 6, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Wk 16 No. 2, Final No. 33 Ohio StateClemson: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 3, Wk 16 No. 3, Final No. 22 ClemsonLSU: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 6, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Wk 16 No. 1, Final No. 11 LSU
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Minnesotaunranked → No. 10
  2. Baylorunranked → No. 13
  3. Memphisunranked → No. 17
  4. WisconsinNo. 19 → No. 11
  5. App Stateunranked → No. 19

Fell

  1. TexasNo. 10 → No. 25
  2. Texas A&MNo. 12 → unranked
  3. WashingtonNo. 13 → unranked
  4. MichiganNo. 7 → No. 18

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

The College Football Playoff

Semifinal

National Championship

Champion: LSU

National leaders

Passing yards

  1. 1Joe Burrow LSU5,671 yds
  2. 2Anthony Gordon Washington State5,575 yds
  3. 3Cole McDonald Hawai’i4,138 yds
  4. 4Brady White Memphis4,014 yds
  5. 5Brock Purdy Iowa State3,982 yds

Passing touchdowns

  1. 1Joe Burrow LSU60 TD
  2. 2Anthony Gordon Washington State48 TD
  3. 3Justin Fields Ohio State41 TD
  4. 4Sam Howell North Carolina38 TD
  5. 5Trevor Lawrence Clemson36 TD

Rushing yards

  1. 1Chuba Hubbard Oklahoma State2,094 yds
  2. 2Malcolm Perry Navy2,017 yds
  3. T3J.K. Dobbins Ohio State2,003 yds
  4. T3Jonathan Taylor Wisconsin2,003 yds
  5. 5Jaret Patterson Buffalo1,799 yds

Rushing touchdowns

  1. T1LeVante Bellamy Western Michigan23 TD
  2. T1Xavier Jones SMU23 TD
  3. T3Chuba Hubbard Oklahoma State21 TD
  4. T3J.K. Dobbins Ohio State21 TD
  5. T3Jonathan Taylor Wisconsin21 TD

Receiving yards

  1. 1Ja’Marr Chase LSU1,780 yds
  2. 2Omar Bayless Arkansas State1,661 yds
  3. 3Justin Jefferson LSU1,540 yds
  4. 4Antonio Gandy-Golden Liberty1,396 yds
  5. 5Devin Duvernay Texas1,386 yds

Receiving touchdowns

  1. 1Ja’Marr Chase LSU20 TD
  2. 2Justin Jefferson LSU18 TD
  3. 3Omar Bayless Arkansas State17 TD
  4. 4James Proche SMU15 TD
  5. 5CeeDee Lamb Oklahoma14 TD

Tackles

  1. 1Evan Weaver California181 tkl
  2. 2Dele Harding Illinois153 tkl
  3. 3Treshaun Hayward Western Michigan142 tkl
  4. 4Jahad Woods Washington State141 tkl
  5. 5John Lako Akron138 tkl

Sacks

  1. 1Chase Young Ohio State16.5 sacks
  2. 2Gregory Rousseau Miami15.5 sacks
  3. 3Hamilcar Rashed Jr. Oregon State14 sacks
  4. T4Curtis Weaver Boise State13.5 sacks
  5. T4James Lynch Baylor13.5 sacks

Interceptions

  1. T1Luqman Barcoo San Diego State9 INT
  2. T1Meiko Dotson Florida Atlantic9 INT
  3. 3Douglas Coleman III Texas Tech8 INT
  4. 4Antoine Winfield Jr. Minnesota7 INT
  5. 5Derek Stingley Jr. LSU6 INT

FBS players; season totals from CollegeFootballData.com player statistics.

Conference champions

FBS

American Athletic Conference
Memphis
Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson
Big 12
Oklahoma
Big Ten
Ohio State
Conference USA
Florida Atlantic
Mid-American Conference
Miami (OH)
Mountain West Conference
Boise State
Pac-12
Oregon
Southeastern Conference
LSU
Sun Belt Conference
App State

FCS

Big Sky
Sacramento State and Weber State (shared)
Big South
Monmouth
Colonial Athletic Association
James Madison
Ivy League
Dartmouth and Yale (shared)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
North Carolina A&T and South Carolina State (shared)
Missouri Valley Football Conference
North Dakota State
Northeast Conference
Central Connecticut
Ohio Valley Conference
Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri State (shared)
Patriot League
Holy Cross
Pioneer Football League
San Diego
Southern Conference
Wofford
Southland Conference
Central Arkansas and Nicholls (shared)
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alcorn State

Division II and below

Great Lakes Valley Conference
Lindenwood
Gulf South Conference
West Florida
Lone Star Conference
Tarleton State
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
St. Thomas (MN)

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

27 playersAll 12 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2019 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2019 All-America teams page.

The 2019 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

LSU 69 on the staff list

  • Ed Orgeronhead coach
  • Dave Arandaassociate head coach, defensive coordinator, linebackers
  • Steve Ensmingeroffensive coordinator, quarterbacks
  • Joe Bradypassing game coordinator, receivers coach
  • James Creggoffensive line
  • Mickey Josephwide receivers
  • Tommie Robinsonassistant head coach, recruiting coordinator, running backs
  • Bill Johnsondefensive line
  • Corey Raymondcornerbacks
  • Bill Buschsafeties
  • Greg McMahonspecial teams coordinator
Support staff (58)

Analysts and quality control

  • Kevin Cosgrove Lead defensive analyst
  • Dennis Johnson analyst
  • Roy Anderson Lead analyst – defense
  • Ronnie Wheat Lead analyst – defense
  • Kevin Coyle senior analyst – defense
  • August Mangin analyst – defense
  • Kenechi Udeze analyst – defense
  • Aaron Schwanz analyst – special teams
  • Caleb Young analyst
  • Blaine Gautier analyst – offense
  • Mark Hutson analyst – offense
  • DJ Mangas analyst – offense
  • Jorge Munoz analyst – offense
  • Tyler Spotts-Orgeron analyst – offense

Strength and conditioning

  • Tommy Moffitt assistant athletic director, strength & conditioning
  • Vic Viloria sr. associate strength & conditioning coach
  • Lance Barilow assistant strength & conditioning coach
  • Connor Neighbors assistant strength & conditioning coach
  • Jake Riedel assistant strength & conditioning coach

Operations and recruiting

  • Dr. Sam Nader assistant AD, football operations
  • Sharon Lewis assistant AD, football recruiting and Alumni relations
  • Kevin Faulk director of player development
  • Derek Ponamsky special assistant to the head coach
  • Charles Baglio director of External football relations
  • Jeff Grigus assistant director of operations
  • Ya’el Lofton coordinator of football operations
  • Tamara Davis coordinator of defensive operations
  • Emily Dixon coordinator of offensive operations
  • Keava Soil-Cormier coordinator of recruiting operations
  • Jeff Martin director of on-Campus recruiting
  • Collin D’Angelo assistant director of player personnel
  • David Bowen assistant director of player personnel
  • Forrest Buckner recruiting creative coordinator
  • Lois Stuckey administrative coordinator
  • Keith Sanchez player personnel Intern
  • Dwayne Thomas player personnel Intern
  • Olivia Ohlsen recruiting Intern

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Jack Marucci director of athletic training
  • Derek Calvert associate athletic trainer
  • Micki Collins associate athletic trainer
  • Zach Bennett director of football nutrition
  • Lauren Marucci assistant sports Dietician
  • Rebecca Moore assistant sports Dietician
  • LaKeitha Poole director of Student-Athlete Mental Health
  • Bruce Buggs assistant director Student-Athlete Mental Health
  • Christine Sotile coordinator Student-Athlete Mental Health
  • Shelly Mullenix senior associate AD, Student-Athlete Health and Wellness

Equipment

  • Greg Stringfellow director of equipment
  • Eric Cookmeyer assistant equipment manager
  • Luke Dudley assistant equipment manager
  • Matt Montgomery assistant equipment manager

Video, communications and other staff

  • John Robinson senior Consultant
  • Doug Aucoin director of video
  • Jacob Brown video coordinator
  • Jonny Saterfield video manager
  • Joe Bourg video Intern
  • Nathan Lemoine sports Science Research associate
  • Michael Bonnette associate athletics director, communications (football)

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

The selection committee

The College Football Playoff committee that ranked the teams and picked the field in 2019, as Wikipedia lists its members by season (CC BY-SA). The list doesn’t name that season’s chair.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 20, 2019Buffalo 31, Charlotte 9Bahamas Bowl
Dec 20, 2019Kent State 51, Utah State 41Frisco Bowl
Dec 21, 2019San Diego State 48, Central Michigan 11New Mexico Bowl
Dec 21, 2019Liberty 23, Georgia Southern 16Cure Bowl
Dec 21, 2019Florida Atlantic 52, SMU 28Boca Raton Bowl
Dec 21, 2019Arkansas State 34, Florida International 26Camellia Bowl
Dec 21, 2019Washington 38, 18Boise State 7Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 21, 201920App State 31, UAB 17New Orleans Bowl
Dec 23, 2019UCF 48, Marshall 25Gasparilla Bowl
Dec 24, 2019Hawai’i 38, BYU 34Hawai’i Bowl
Dec 26, 2019Louisiana Tech 14, Miami 0Independence Bowl
Dec 26, 2019Pittsburgh 34, Eastern Michigan 30Quick Lane Bowl
Dec 27, 2019North Carolina 55, Temple 13Military Bowl
Dec 27, 2019Michigan State 27, Wake Forest 21Pinstripe Bowl
Dec 27, 2019Texas A&M 24, 25Oklahoma State 21Texas Bowl
Dec 27, 201919Iowa 49, 22USC 24Holiday Bowl
Dec 27, 201924Air Force 31, Washington State 21Cheez-It Bowl
Dec 28, 201914Notre Dame 33, Iowa State 9Camping World Bowl
Dec 28, 201913Penn State 53, 15Memphis 39Cotton Bowl
Dec 28, 20191LSU 63, 4Oklahoma 28Peach Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Dec 28, 20193Clemson 29, 2Ohio State 23Fiesta Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Dec 30, 2019Western Kentucky 23, Western Michigan 20First Responder Bowl
Dec 30, 2019Louisville 38, Mississippi State 28Music City Bowl
Dec 30, 2019California 35, Illinois 20Redbox Bowl
Dec 30, 20196Florida 36, Virginia 28Orange Bowl
Dec 31, 2019Kentucky 37, Virginia Tech 30Belk Bowl
Dec 31, 2019Arizona State 20, Florida State 14Sun Bowl
Dec 31, 201921Navy 20, Kansas State 17Liberty Bowl
Dec 31, 2019Wyoming 38, Georgia State 17Arizona Bowl
Dec 31, 2019Texas 38, 12Utah 10Alamo Bowl
Jan 1, 20209Alabama 35, 17Michigan 16Citrus Bowl
Jan 1, 202016Minnesota 31, 9Auburn 24Outback Bowl
Jan 1, 20207Oregon 28, 11Wisconsin 27Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 20205Georgia 26, 8Baylor 14Sugar Bowl
Jan 2, 202023Cincinnati 38, Boston College 6Birmingham Bowl
Jan 2, 2020Tennessee 23, Indiana 22Gator Bowl
Jan 3, 2020Ohio 30, Nevada 21Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Jan 4, 2020Tulane 30, Southern Miss 13Armed Forces Bowl
Jan 6, 2020Louisiana 27, Miami (OH) 17LendingTree Bowl
Jan 13, 20201LSU 42, 3Clemson 25CFP National Championship

Rule book changes

Every rule book

The 2019 NCAA rule book against the one before: 4 new and 3 changed articles.

Rule 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment

  • New Rule 1-4-12 Coaches’ Phones, Headsets and Communication Devices (Players and Playing Equipment)

Rule 2: Definitions

  • New Rule 2-3-7 Blind-Side Block (Blocking)

Rule 3: Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions

  • Changed Rule 3-3-7 Length of Timeouts (Timeouts: Starting and Stopping the Clock)

Rule 9: Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules

  • New Rule 9-1-9 Roughing the Passer (Personal Fouls)
  • New Rule 9-1-18 Blind-Side Block (Personal Fouls)

Rule 12: Instant Replay

  • Changed Rule 12-4-3 Location (Instant Replay Personnel, Equipment and Location)
  • Changed Rule 12-6-1 Procedures (Reviewing an On-Field Ruling)

Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).