No one would’ve blamed Trevor Lawrence for throwing the ball away. The game was, in essence, already over.
It was fourth down, near the Ohio State end zone. Clemson was down 49-28 with just 1:47 left to play in Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinal matchup. From the moment Clemson snapped the ball, Lawrence started backpedaling, retreating from the ferocious Ohio State pass rush.
Lawrence released the ball more than 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage, while falling backward, two Buckeye defenders closing in for a punishing hit. Somehow, the ball glided over two defenders and reached the hands of receiver Amari Rodgers in the end zone.
The last throw of Lawrence’s decorated college career was a spectacular football play — yet it will be remembered more for Ohio State’s response. Rodgers held the ball in his fingers for mere second or two before three Buckeyes crashed in on him, one knocking the ball out from behind him, and another catching the loose ball in the air for an interception.
As cornerback Sevyn Banks ran back with the football in his hands, Lawrence watched from the ground. Crushed. A teammate would have to help him up.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
In 2020, a year defined by challenge and controversy, the 21-year-old Lawrence showed the sports world again and again what kind of man he is. He didn’t shy away from his role as a public figure, as the college game’s most recognizable face. Rather, he took ownership of his platform in a fashion not typically seen from college athletes.
When COVID-19 threatened to wipe out the football season, Lawrence used his voice to help launch the #WeWantToPlay movement, citing safety and mental health. He publicly discussed ideas of forming some kind of college players association, to give student-athletes a seat at the table for the decisions that affect them. When protests erupted across the country following the death of George Floyd, Lawrence embraced the “Black Lives Matter” mantra and helped organize campus protests with his teammates.
Lawrence didn’t have to say or do any of those things. He could’ve kept his head down and focused on football — and he’d still be projected as the first pick in the 2021 NFL draft. That would’ve been a more convenient approach,
Beyond his sheer physical talents and his rocket arm, Lawrence’s leadership qualities shined the brightest over the last 10 months. He led through his voice and he led through his actions. He continued to lead in the waning seconds of the Sugar Bowl, showing that he wouldn’t relent no matter the situation.
He could’ve thrown that last ball away, could’ve taken a sack, and no one would have blamed him.
“I know we didn’t win the game, but there you saw everything you need to know about that guy tonight,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said about Lawrence. “I mean, he wanted to play to the last second and give it everything he has. And that’s just who he is as a person.
“… Trevor Lawrence is a generational guy. He’s gonna be a great player for a long, long time.”
Much was made leading up to the Sugar Bowl about the quarterback matchup between Lawrence and Justin Fields — another upper-echelon quarterback prospect who should hear his name called early in the draft’s first round. Fields and the Buckeyes got the better of Clemson, but it would be a mistake to say Lawrence fell short. No, he didn’t play his top game in a Clemson uniform, but he still threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns.
Fields simply played better.
It says something about Lawrence as a competitor that the only two games he ever lost came against historic performances by the opposing quarterback. Joe Burrow threw for five touchdowns, 463 yards and rushed for a sixth total touchdown in order for LSU to take down Lawrence and the Tigers in last year’s national title game. Months later, he was the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick.
Fields had to throw a Sugar Bowl record six touchdowns to dethrone Lawrence in the CFP semifinals — all while playing through an injury suffered early in the contest. In doing so, the Ohio State quarterback cemented his status as a college football folk hero. Those are the kinds of performances needed to defeat Lawrence at Clemson. It’s only happened twice.
Friday’s game said more about who Fields is as a competitor. After his recent struggles and recent criticism from NFL draft pundits, Fields said he came into the game with “an edge.” He showed he belonged in the conversation.
“He played great,” Lawrence said. “I don’t even know what the stats were, but he played awesome, made a ton of plays, took care of the ball really was just super efficient. Found the open guys and that’s what playing quarterback is. He played great. He was tough. Obviously, I know Justin, kind of known him for a while.
“Whoever is on the other sideline, I’m hoping that they don’t play great against us just because they want to win. But I’m happy for him. He played a great game. And hats off to him and Ohio State in general. But man, he played a hell of a game for sure.”
Fittingly, Fields was one of the other major voices who spoke up during the #WeWantToPlay movement and who joined Lawrence in his support for a players association. No matter who won Friday, the matchup represented a clash of two of football’s brightest young stars — and leaders.
When he threw his season-ending and career-ending interception, Lawrence spent a moment on the grass, but then he stood back up, and remained standing tall after the game, holding back the tears in his eyes and answering reporters’ questions with poise and thoughtfulness.
He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to play and compete, said he had no regrets and a made a special point to emphasize that he was “proud of the man” he had become at Clemson.
As he spoke with reporters over Zoom, he was interrupted mid-answer by a woman who was unaware her microphone was turned on — an unexpected, unscripted moment that has since gone viral. She made a comment about Lawrence needing to shave his mustache.
Lawrence had just lost one of the most important games of his life on a national stage after a trying year of playing football through an unprecedented global pandemic. When he was interrupted, he could’ve blown up, been annoyed, stormed off.
Instead he laughed, and with his typical Trevor Lawrence composure, simply said, “Thanks.”
