Rece Davis Thinks Trevor Lawrence Plays If Available for Notre Dame

After news broke that Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence had tested positive for Covid-19, much of the focus of the national media has been geared towards his availability for the top-tanked Tigers big matchup with Notre Dame in South Bend next weekend.

While No. 1 Clemson faced injuries over the last five years, they haven't had to deal with losing a starting quarterback for an extended period of time. 

The last time Clemson was faced with a quarterback missing multiple starts to injury was in 2014 when Deshaun Watson tore an ACL late in the season against Georgia Tech. Watson missed two of the team's final three games, including the Tigers 40-6 win over Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl. 

While much of the attention has focused on how backup D.J. Uiagalelei will perform in his first career start against Boston College, some in the national media are looking beyond that and wondering whether or not Lawrence will be back in time for Norte Dame next weekend. 

Appearing on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt on Thursday night, ESPN's "College GameDay" host Rece Davis says he thinks if Lawrence is medically cleared to play, that he will in fact be the guy taking the snaps for the Tigers in South Bend next weekend. 

"If he is cleared and able to play, and this is just my judgment on it, certainly haven't talked to Dabo about it, I can't envision a scenario in which Trevor Lawrence is cleared to play and he wouldn't start the game," Davis said. "I think they will put him out there and let him work his way into it."

The question then becomes could Lawrence be cleared to play in time. The best-case scenario would likely have him being cleared just in time but that would also mean Lawrence would not have taken a single snap in practice for well over a week. 

However, Davis says he can envision a scenario in which Lawrence still plays despite not having any practice time and says that the Tigers junior quarterback is good enough and experienced enough to overcome that kind of adversity.

"I think you put him out there," Davis said. "He's the best player, the best quarterback in college football, a generational type guy, he's played a ton. I would view it almost like an NFL situation where a guy would get mental reps and probably a ton of zoom meetings and opportunities to study the game plan, which he'll know inside out anyway based on his experience."