Lawrence's Maturity Shines on Big Stage

Clemson's Trevor Lawrence was also in the final college football game last year with a similar team, but he'll be a better, more mature quarterback when takes on LSU in the national championship game on Jan. 13.

This time last year, Trevor Lawrence was getting ready to play in the national championship game.

He had never lost a college game as a starting quarterback.

The Clemson signal-caller played in a talented backfield, threw to NFL-caliber receivers and was protected by a solid offensive line while having a stingy defense to back him up.

Fast forward to now, and, honestly, not much has changed.

Lawrence still has and is still playing for all of those things when Clemson takes on LSU on Jan. 13 in the national championship game in New Orleans.

There are a few important differences, however.

Lawrence has a national title on his resume after he helped Clemson beat Alabama 44-16 a year ago, when people marveled at how poised he was as a true freshman.

Now, though, he’s more mature and insightful.

Remember when Lawrence threw eight interceptions in his first seven games and the national media freaked out?

He handled adversity going in front of cameras and microphones and putting the issue on him, insisting that he must play better.

And he did. He was last picked off by Louisville on Oct. 19, and he’s thrown for 1,897 yards and scored total 25 touchdowns with no interceptions since then.

There were times last season that Lawrence admitted there were overwhelming moments. He felt genuine remorse for former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant when Lawrence beat him out for the starting job after the first four games of 2018.

It wasn’t easy dealing with the offseason pressures of being called the next Peyton Manning, his childhood hero, or a lock to be the first player taken in the 2021 NFL Draft or “the man” on the preseason No. 1 team in the nation.

Maybe that explains some of Lawrence’s errant throws in the first half of the season. Maybe he was trying to do too much or live up to something other people wanted him to be.

“I think pressure comes from the outside,” Lawrence said Monday. “The more you listen to other people and what they expect or what they think you should do, that’s how pressure builds. So I think the only type of pressure we have is from ourselves.”

He’s handling everything at an elite level, and that’s helped Clemson get right back to where they were last year and in 2016.

“We’ve come this far,” Lawrence said. “We’ve had to grind to get here. We don’t want that to go to waste in this last game. We want to end on the right note.”

This may be a familiar scene for him, but he’s far from the same QB of 2018 areas beyond maturity. Lawrence uses his legs much more, an area he really worked hard to improve.

He’s better at reading and recognizing defenses and making better decisions. He’s proven his toughness and improved as a leader. He rallies his teammates before crucial drives.

In other words, he’s playing at the top of his game, just like his counterpart, LSU QB Joe Burrow, with one possible advantage. 

“It does get easier the more you do it, the more experiences you have,” Lawrence said. “Going out here for the national championship, I know how the schedule is going to be. We’re going to get out there a couple days early. Then we’ll have media (day) probably on Saturday. Knowing that and just kind of making a schedule in my head and saying ‘I’ll have media on Saturday and then everything else I’m going to be preparing for LSU, practicing and getting ready.’ Just kind of setting that up in your head before it happens (helps).”