LSU’s historic season reflected on 2019 LSWA All-Louisiana Football Team

LSU’s first trip to the College Football Playoff landed a trio of Tigers top individual honors on the 2019 Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s All-Louisiana Football Team.

Quarterback Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy Winner, was named Offensive Player of the Year in a landslide while Tigers boss Ed Orgeron did the same in the Coach of the Year voting and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. matched his teammate and coach’s margin to take home Freshman of the Year acclaim as voted by a panel of statewide media and sports information directors.

The trio helped lead the Tigers to a 13-0 regular season and a berth in the Dec. 28 Peach Bowl, a College Football Playoff semifinal, LSU’s first CPF berth since the arrival of the playoff following the 2014 season.

The Tigers’ success helped them land 14 of the 50 first- and second-team selections and marked the second straight year Burrow and Orgeron earned individual superlatives. Burrow was the 2018 All-Louisiana Newcomer of the Year while Orgeron shared the Coach of the Year award a season ago.

Standout Louisiana Tech cornerback Amik Robertson was named All-Louisiana Defensive Player of the Year while Nicholls’ Kevin Moore III grabbed Newcomer of the Year honors.

Orgeron led the Tigers to a record-setting season that included five wins against top-10 opponents – No. 9 Texas, No. 7 Florida, No. 9 Auburn, No. 2 Alabama and No. 4 Georgia – putting LSU two wins away from its first national championship since 2007.

Orgeron also brought in passing game coordinator Joe Brady, whose work with the offense led to Burrow picking up the second Heisman Trophy in LSU program history. Burrow, a senior from Athens, Ohio, led the nation in completion percentage (77.9 percent) and established LSU and Southeastern Conference single-season records for touchdown passes (48). He threw for 4,715 yards, topping 300 yards in 11 games, piloting LSU’s offense to school records in points (621), points per game (47.8), total yards (7,206) and yards per game (554.3). In addition to the Heisman Trophy, Burrow was named the Walter Camp Player of the Year, the Maxwell Award winner, the Davey O’Brien Award winner and the SEC Offensive Player of the Year.

Stingley Jr., a Baton Rouge-Dunham product, equaled Orgeron’s and Burrow’s marks, picking up all 18 votes on ballots where he was eligible (SIDs are not able to vote for their own players). He led the SEC with six interceptions, two more than the next closest defender, and was credited with 21 passes defensed (6 INTs, 15 PBUs). He added 34 tackles, including one for a loss, en route to earning SEC Newcomer of the Year honors and spots on the SEC All-Freshman Team, the AP All-SEC first team, the Walter Camp All-America second team and the 247Sports True Freshman All-America team.

Robertson, Louisiana Tech’s junior cornerback from Thibodaux, took Defensive Player of the Year honors by a 2.5-vote margin over Nicholls defensive lineman Sully Laiche. Robertson collected 60 tackles (8 for loss), 16 pass breakups, five interceptions, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recover and one quarterback hurry. He returned two interceptions for touchdowns and added a kick return score, earning first-team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America and Pro Football Focus and second-team selections by Sports Illustrate, CBS Sports and The Athletic. A semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, Robertson was the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 21 after a three-interception game against Southern Mississippi and a two-time LSWA Defensive Player of the Week honoree.

Moore, a junior safety from Lafayette who transferred to Nicholls from Texas Tech, was the Newcomer of the Year after tallying 102 tackles (65 solo), three fumble recoveries and an interception. The first-team All-Southland Conference selection had three double-digit tackle games, including 11 in a season-ending win against Southeastern Louisiana that clinched Nicholls’ Southland Conference championship.

LSU teammates Burrow, offensive linemen Lloyd Cushenberry and Damien Lewis, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Laiche, McNeese defensive lineman Chris Livings and UL Lafayette return specialist Raymond Calais were unanimous first-team selections, appearing on all ballots where they were eligible.

Five players, including Robertson and Laiche, were repeat first-team selections: UL Lafayette offensive lineman Kevin Dotson, LSU defensive lineman Rashard Lawrence and LSU defensive back Grant Delpit.

2019 All-Louisiana Collegiate Football Team
Chosen by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s panel of media voters and SIDs

FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
OL – Kevin Dotson, UL Lafayette, Sr., Plaquemine, La.; Lloyd Cushenberry, LSU, Jr., Carville, La.; Damien Lewis, LSU, Sr., Canton, Miss.; P.J. Burkhalter, Nicholls Jr., Franklinton, La.; Robert Hunt, Sr., Burkeville, La.
TE – Josh Pederson, ULM, Jr., Morristown, N.J.
QB – Joe Burrow, LSU, Sr., Athens. Ohio
WR – Ja’Marr Chase, LSU, So., Metairie, La.; Justin Jefferson, LSU, Jr., St. Rose, La.
RB – Clyde Edwards-Helaire, LSU, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.; Elijah Mitchell, UL Lafayette, Jr., Erath, La.

DEFENSE
DL – Sully Laiche, Nicholls, Sr., Gramercy, La.; Chris Livings, McNeese, Sr., Lake Charles, La.; Rashard Lawrence, LSU, Sr., Monroe, La.; Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund, Southeastern Louisiana, Sr., Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
LB – K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU, So., Houston, Texas; Allen Pittman, Nicholls, Sr., St. Rose, La.; Jacques Boudreaux, UL Lafayette, Sr., New Orleans, La.
DB –Grant Delpit, LSU, Jr., Houston, Texas; Derek Stingley Jr., LSU, Fr., Baton Rouge, La.; Amik Robertson, Louisiana Tech, Jr., Thibodaux, La.; Corey Straughter, Jr., Monroe, La.

SPECIALISTS
P – Rhys Burns, UL Lafayette, So., Melbourne, Australia
K – Cade York, LSU, Fr., McKinney, Texas
RS – Raymond Calais, UL Lafayette, Sr., Breaux Bridge, La.
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
OL – Pat Allen, Southeastern Louisiana, Sr., Reisertown, Md.; Bradston Burnside, Nicholls, Senior, Hattiesburg, Miss.; Jeremiah Abby, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.; Ethan Reed, Louisiana Tech, Sr., Orange, Texas
TE – Thaddeus Moss, LSU, Jr., Charlotte, N.C.
QB – Chase Fourcade, Nicholls, Sr., Metairie, La.
WR – Quan Shorts, Northwestern State, Sr., Humble, Texas; Ja’Marcus Bradley, UL Lafayette, Sr., Ackerman, Miss.
RB – Josh Johnson, ULM, Jr., Opelika, Ala.; Julien Gums, Nichlolls, So., New Orleans, La.

DEFENSE
DL – Courtney Wallace, Louisiana Tech, Sr., Monroe, La.; Zi’yon Hill, UL Lafayette, So., New Iberia, La.; Neil Farrell, LSU, Jr., Mobile, Ala.; Jordan Lewis, Southern, So., Ocala, Fla.
LB – Cortez Sisco Jr., ULM, Sr., Memphis, Tenn.; Ja’Quay Pough, Northwestern State, Jr., Sherman, Texas Patrick Johnson, Tulane, Jr., Chattanooga, Tenn.
DB – Ferlando Jordan, Southeastern Louisiana, So., Atlanta, Ga.; Joe McWilliams, Grambling, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.; Kristian Fulton, LSU, Sr., New Orleans, La.; Kevin Moore III, Nicholls, Jr., Lafayette, La.

SPECIALISTS
P – Jared Porter, ULM, So., Redlands, California
K – Bailey Hale, Louisiana Tech, Jr., Iowa Park, Texas
RS – Cyron Sutton, McNeese, Jr., New Orleans, La.

INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
COACH OF THE YEAR– Ed Orgeron, LSU (18 votes)
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Joe Burrow, LSU (18)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Amik Robertson, Louisiana Tech (8)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Kevin Moore III, Nicholls (11)
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Derek Stingley Jr., LSU (18)

HONORABLE MENTION (received 25% of votes cast)
OL – Chris Zirkle, Northwestern State; Bobby Reynolds, ULM
TE – Bransen Schwebel, Southeastern Louisiana
WR – Cyron Sutton, McNeese
RB – Justin Henderson, Louisiana Tech

DEFENSE
DL – Donald Louis Jr., ULM; Tyler Shelvin, LSU; Anfernee Mullins, Grambling; Cody Roscoe, McNeese; Willie Baker, Louisiana Tech
LB – Jacob Phillips, LSU; Joe Dillon, UL Lafayette
DB – Jacoby Stevens, LSU; Darion Dunn, McNeese

SPECIALISTS
P – Bailey Raborn, McNees
RS – C.J. Lewis, Louisiana College