Trevor Lawrence’s legacy and position in history is decided.
Clemson’s quarterback controls much of his own destiny, Friday’s Sugar Bowl striker opposed to Ohio State. Si the No Tigers. Two win their fifth school playoff semi-final in six years, and the third in a row with downtown Lawrence will have a chance to win the national name of the moment in three seasons.
No QB has won several CFP championships since the formula was introduced in 2014, being the last opener to win two career titles, A. J. Alabama. McCarron (2011-12). Before that, Tommie Frazier (1994–95) did so with Nebraska.
Tim Tebow won one as a starter and one as a substitute. Deshaun Watson, Vince Young, Matt Lienart, Danny Wuerfuell, Cam Newton, Sammy Baugh, Jameis Winston and Charlie Ward had one. Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, Lawrence’s closest comparisons, have never won a national title.
Lawrence is two games away from a rare company and there probably wouldn’t be much argument between him and McCarron. Frazier? Let’s leave this until the end of Clemson’s season.
Anyway, those are the quarterbacks that Lawrence will be compared to sports communication programs, ratings and bar discussions for decades.
“He’s as smart as ever, that’s for sure,” said Clemson’s head coach, Dabo Swinney. “I’ll let others wonder if he’s the most productive of all time. “
So, there may be a bias, however, in the way Swinney talks about his star QB, it is rarely said that he trained Watson and Tajh Boyd. Lawrence is special. It’s been known since I was a kid in high school.
He is now a guy about to be the first variety of the 2021 NFL Draft and the face of school football. Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs knows what he’s up against.
Lawrence, on the other hand, is in no position to have those discussions.
“I didn’t necessarily think about what my legacy would be, ” said Lawrence this week. “I’ve been trying to live in the moment for the last 3 years and I’ve proven that I’m as productive as I can be no matter” when I am. So that’s my state of mind and I think it’s helping you leave a legacy if you’re just going out to live and be more productive at every moment. “
In fact, there will be debates about his career. He probably wouldn’t win the Heisman Trophy this year, which means he’ll leave the school game without the sport’s ultimate illustrious prize. Lawrence has not been part of the first All-America team for the past 3 years.
He also lost a national championship game before this calendar year when LSU and Joe Borrow pulled out Clemson’s most productive with a 42-25 victory, the worst functionality of Lawrence’s career.
But Friday is a step towards this game. Beating the state of Ohio would give a player who has a 34-1 all-time record as a starter two wins over the Buckeyes, two over Notre Dame and one over Alabama. them in a national naming game would further decorate Lawrence’s impressive victories.
“At the end of the day, I just need other people to say, I need other people to communicate more with my character than with the kind of player I am or went to,” Lawrence said. “I just need to be a smart user, and I think that’s my number one goal. Obviously, the game and all that stuff, all the distinctions, will end up communicating about themselves. But it’s not the main thing to be a smart user and be a smart teammate. is what other people say about me when I get out of here.
This is quite admirable for a young man who spoke blatably about social injustice and helped lead the motion to play school football in a pandemic. These things can’t be overlooked.
However, early Saturday morning, other people will only need to communicate about the Sugar Bowl result, and Lawrence, even without his offensive coordinator, is in a position to do a show. According to his latest game, a 34-10 beating Irishman, Lawrence is betting the most productive football of his career. He beat COVID-19 and did not have three much-loved catchers for much of the season.
That would probably not prevent him from making his opposition more productive to the state of Ohio in New Orleans. Look at it carefully. Don’t pay too much attention to the strength of the NFL arm or deceptive speed. See how he handles his team, pocket, pre-launch readings, post-launch decisions, and total play. As a wonderful pitcher in baseball, he puts pressure on the other team to make it almost perfect. Lawrence probably wouldn’t let you beat him. He’s in too much control.
And that’s the key word that will finally delimit their legacy and how far it will take the Tigers in 2020.