John Amis/Associated Press
ATLANTA — It was a day of tears and touchdowns. Heartbreak and broken records. Incredible sadness because a life was lost too soon mixed with football jubilation following one of the most emphatic statements in the sport's history.
It was an emotional day here, where a football game was played amid a tragedy that rocked the LSU program at various points throughout the day.
The Tigers throttled Oklahoma 63-28 in the Peach Bowl—a game that felt over eight minutes after it began. But the emotions that seemed to pour out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium as LSU secured a spot in the national championship game were not because of the outcome or the many records that were broken but something that occurred before the game began.