Clemson Tigers: Trevor Lawrence saves his best for CFB Playoff

Clemson Tigers true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence saved his best of the 2018 season for the College Football Playoff.

Sometimes you just know greatness when you see it. Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence didn’t take long as a true freshman to beat out Kelly Bryant, a senior quarterback who brought Clemson within an inch of beating Alabama in the 2017 season.

On Saturday, Lawrence didn’t blink in his opportunity against a Notre Dame defense allowing fewer than 200 passing yards per game and 56.1 percent completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks.

He spat in the face of those numbers, completing 27-of-39 passes (69.2 percent) for 327 yards and three touchdowns.

Best of all? No interceptions.

Lawrence looked the best he has all season, which is really saying something considering this is a young player at the most important position in sports on one of the most prestigious schools in the country. He’s facing immense pressure from the outside, but he looks cool, calm, and collected every time he steps out on the field.

A top-ranked recruit this past offseason, Lawrence came to Clemson with high expectations and so far, it’s safe to say he’s exceeded them.

It’s becoming more and more obvious that Lawrence is the next great thing at the quarterback position, though he’s got a few guys coming up ahead of him in Tua Tagovailoa, Jake Fromm, and Justin Herbert who also look like they will be good NFL quarterbacks beyond 2019.

The NFL will have to wait for Lawrence until at least 2021 when a new collective bargaining agreement will be struck. It will be interesting to see if the NFL’s labor situation prevents Lawrence from declaring early for the NFL Draft. That situation hurt a number of the first-round quarterbacks that year (Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder), so that will be something to monitor.

At any rate, Lawrence picked apart the Notre Dame defense with relative ease. He is such a good passer to all levels of the field and he has a great feel for the game. That can’t be overstated in a situation like this. This kid is 19 years old, playing against one of the better defenses in college football, and it didn’t faze him a single bit.

This performance is some of the clearest evidence we have right now as to why Dabo Swinney and his staff were not hesitant to make Lawrence their starting quarterback early on this season. He just does everything really well.

It will be impressive to see Lawrence when he matures a bit more physically, as right now his body type is a bit lanky and he will need to add some bulk moving forward. Perhaps he can ask Andrew Luck a think or two about that.

Now, Lawrence and the Tigers turn their attention to the National Championship game, which as I type this appears quite likely to be Alabama (currently with a 31-10 lead over Oklahoma).

If Lawrence does indeed face Alabama in the National Championship game, it will be his greatest test yet. So far, nothing standing in his way has proven to be an impossible obstacle. He has been such a weapon for Clemson’s offense, making big throw after big throw en route to an undefeated season.

His future will certainly include some hardware, perhaps a Heisman Trophy, but he has a chance right out of high school to become a National Champion. This kid is something special.