ATLANTA - Georgia's Bulldog Nation no doubt wants its 37-10 Southeastern Conference championship game loss to LSU on Saturday to be about talent, or lack thereof.
That way they can quite easily blame it on coach Kirby Smart for not recruiting enough outrageously gifted physical specimens to the Athens campus. Or, should they choose to do so, blame it on the rather large portion of that talent that has been less than 100% healthy for so much of this season and especially for this game, particularly running back D'Andre Swift, who still played, and wideout Lawrence Cager, who didn't.
And that argument carries much legitimacy. The Dawgs almost certainly would have made a better game of this one with a roster full of healthy bodies instead of a bruised and battered one trying to tough it out.
But LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, the prohibitive Heisman Trophy favorite in the eyes of many, had a slightly different take on this win, one that sounds simple but leans on a good deal of luck and magic and chemistry, though presumably not the kind requiring test tubes and glass beakers emitting bubbles and smoke.
"When I first got here, you had an offense and a defense," he said of his arrival at LSU after transferring from Ohio State in spring 2018. "Now you have LSU. This is as close as I've ever been to anybody."
To be clear, closeness alone doesn't win games. You need talent. And coaching. Especially in the SEC.
But there are also plenty examples out there of teams blessed with talent yet cursed by bad chemistry and coaching. The Dallas Cowboys come to mind in the NFL. Last year's Houston Rockets were a mess in the NBA. Same with this year's World Series champion Washington Nationals before they parted company with Bryce Harper prior to the 2019 season.
LSU seems just the opposite right now. One for all and all for one. And Bayou Bengals boss Ed Orgeron gives Burrow more than a small amount of the credit for the Purple and Gold now standing 13-0 on the year heading into the College Football Playoff at the end of this month.
"He leads by example," Orgeron said during the Tigers' postgame news conference at the bottom of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. "I remember his first day coming here, we were running 110s (sprints). I don't know how many there were, 16, and he won every one. The next day he did it again, and the next day he did it again.
"He kept his mouth shut and worked hard, and eventually he took over this football team. This is his team, and the reason it's his team, it's because he earned their respect."
Of course, respect without results can also lead to regret. Maybe this isn't the guy we thought he was. Maybe, to borrow a longtime Texas phrase, he's all hat and no cattle, or an emperor with no clothes.
Not Burrow. Two plays to permanently cement a place of both awe and affection in the hearts and minds of Tiger Nation:
No. 1, with roughly 12:35 to play in the opening quarter, the score 0-0, Burrow dropped back to pass, only to have his throw batted into the air. He quickly caught it, then ran left for 16 yards and a first down to the Georgia 47. Five plays later he hit Ja'Marr Chase for 23 yards and a touchdown to give LSU a lead it would never relinquish.
Said the colorful, gravelly voiced Orgeron when asked about that play: "Atta boy, Joe. Run, Joe, run."
Oh, he ran all right. Ran for 41 yards on 11 carries when he wasn't completing 28 of 38 passes for 349 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
Then there was play No. 2. With 4:17 left in the third quarter, it was still a game. LSU led 20-3, but the Dawgs had moved the ball some and the Tigers were now on their own 20, first-and-10.
Tired of Burrow seemingly having all day to throw - he reportedly stood in the pocket for more than eight seconds on his first touchdown pass - Georgia rushed six men.
Only that man missed Burrow, as did another. Scrambling free, Burrow somehow found Justin Jefferson along the right sideline. The play gained 71 yards, set up a game-deciding touchdown three plays later and provided lots of evidence of why the LSU QB deserves the little bronze statue that's supposed to go to college football's best player.
Especially when one considers he threw 44 touchdown passes and amassed 4,366 passing yards before the SEC title game this season.
"In my opinion, he's the best player in the country," Orgeron said. "In my opinion, he should win (the Heisman). In my opinion, he's going to win it."
But the fiery Orgeron also deserves credit for building the kind of team in both talent and resolve that's been willing to embrace the transfer Burrow.
"This is what I'm supposed to do," the LSU coach said. "I'm supposed to recruit great players and win big-time games."
Thanks to those great players, especially the transfer quarterback who's far from an Ordinary Joe, LSU is now just two big-time wins away from the school's fourth national championship and first since 2007.
Mark WiedmerContact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TFPWeeds.