Lawrence and Tigers Embrace the Target

CLEMSON — The Clemson Tigers will face a Virginia Cavalier team in the ACC Championship Saturday (7:30 p.m., ABC) that they have not seen on the field since 2013, the last time the two teams met.

But even though there have been coaching changes at Virginia and none of the current members of either team were in high school the last time the two teams met there is still an appreciation of what Cavaliers have accomplished by the Tiger players.

"It's a solid team, good defense. Seems like they're really disciplined," quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. "They have some good size, especially at linebacker. The D-line plays really hard. Haven't had a chance to really dig super deep into them. It will be my first big day breaking them down. Just wanted to get a feel (Sunday) to watch a game, see how the game went."

Even though the Tigers have just started their film study of the Cavaliers in preparation for their game, Lawrence is familiar with the Cavalier program, and quarterback Bryce Perkins, from watching games on TV.

"Throughout the year if I get the chance to watch any games just on TV, if they happen to be on, if we're done playing or before our games, I'll watch," Lawrence said. "Especially if it's an ACC team. Other than that, throughout the year I've seen some on Virginia just because we played common opponents obviously throughout the year. I usually am watching their offense, watching the other team's defense on film. I haven't really had an opportunity to watch a lot of film on their defense until now.

"It's been something new for sure. I've seen a lot of there offense, Bryce Perkins, who is a really good player. I've seen him on offense because he's always playing the teams we're playing.

The stakes for both teams are different as they prepare to do battle in the ACC Championship.

For the Tigers, they are looking to win an NCAA record fifth straight conference title game and earn a berth in the College Football Playoff for a fifth straight season. And for the Cavaliers, they are looking to make a return to national relevance.

With a few in the national media now saying that the Tigers would still be in the playoffs with a loss in the ACC Championship, do not doubt the Tigers motivation for winning because they feel, and rightfully so, if they lose, they are out.

"Our team has done a really good job this whole season of creating energy. I mean, there really is a energy every game," Lawrence said. "For us, Coach Swinney said it, it's really important for us to win every game to make sure we punch our ticket to hopefully the playoff, national championship. That's really important for us. Also the opportunity to win for our program the fifth consecutive ACC title, that's huge. No one has ever done that. That will be a lot of motivation for us. Just the things we set out to do, team goals. The ACC championship is one. That is going to be a huge thing for us. We're going to have plenty of motivation for us to do that.

"I think if we don't win this game, we definitely won't make it in, is my opinion. Like you said, that's going to be important for us to win this game."

The Tigers will once again face a team that they are expected to beat handily, favored by 29 points against the Cavaliers. But for Lawrence, the understanding that they will get every team's best shot is not something that worries him.

In fact, it is what drives him and the Tigers to be great.

"That's what keeps the game fun," Lawrence said. "I guess being, as you would say, on top from what we did last year, up to this point this year, you get everyone's best shot. There's really no excuses. If we lose, someone beat us. If we win, we got their best shot. It's not like you can say that the team wasn't really ready. Every week when someone plays us, they're looking forward to Clemson. We enjoy kind of having that target. That's the way it is.

Add us as a preferred source on Google