San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Clemson QB unflappable as freshman
Clemson has a busload of NFL prospects ready to play in the College Football Playoff title game Monday night — and one rock star.
The Tigers’ strength coaches call freshman Trevor Lawrence “Stick” — “cause I’m so skinny.” His teammates call him “Sunshine” after the longblond-haired quarterback of the movie “Remember the Titans.”
Other people call Lawrence the best quarterback prospect to come out of high school — ever. He’s 6-foot-6 and blessed with a powerful arm, extraordinary field vision and remarkable poise for somebody who turned 19 in October.
“You can talk about his physical skills all you want,” ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said. “To me it’s the ability, in this offense, especially when they go uptempo, the ability not to make mental mistakes, process the coverage, get out of a bad play into a good play. That is just unbelievable. … He’s a oncein-a-generation type of guy.” When Alabama beat Clemson 24-6 in last year’s Sugar Bowl, a CFP semifinal, the Crimson Tide defense didn’t have to fear the downfield pass. Now, with Lawrence and deep threats like Tee Higgins, Amari Rodgers and Justyn Ross, they do, and that could open up the rest of the offense.
Coming out of Cartersville, Ga., where he was 52-2 as a starter, Lawrence was rated the No. 1 prep prospect in the nation, regardless of position, by 247Sports and Rivals and the No. 2 player by ESPN.
He had quit baseball and
Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN analyst
basketball in favor of football in eighth grade. His hair was “really short” when he entered high school. “Then I decided to grow it out, and it stuck, so I just left it,” he said.
After picking Clemson over Georgia, he took over as the starter five games into his freshman season. He was knocked out of his first start by head and neck injuries against Syracuse. He has wowed ever since, most recently when he passed for 327 yards and three touchdowns against Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.
Lawrence credits his unflappable nature to his Christian faith and his family. “The way I was brought up, no moment’s too big,” he said Saturday at media day at SAP Center in San Jose. “I feel like I keep myself grounded. I feel like I was made for moments like this.”
Last year he watched the Alabama-Clemson game as a high school senior, “dreaming of playing in that game,” he said. “This year I didn’t know how it was going to work out. I knew it would eventually, but I didn’t know when.”
Few people realize their dreams this quickly.
“He’s advanced, and it’s not just his ability to throw the ball,” said Alabama defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, a former Cal player and assistant coach. “He’s got a great arm; we knew that in the recruiting process. It’s more that you can see how he’s processing things. He does a great job in seeing things from pre-snap and then post-snap, where he’s going with the ball. It’s obvious that he’s been coached well, and he knows how to operate within the scheme of their offense well.”
Naturally, Lawrence was the ACC Rookie of the Year. This season he has piled up 2,933 yards and 27 TDs against four interceptions.
“He can do it all,” said Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, the Outland Trophy winner as the top interior lineman in the country. “He can make the throws deep downfield. He can make the short throws. He can run when he needs to run. It’s amazing, and he’s got three more years of college to go.”
Well, most likely two. But he’s not eligible for the NFL draft until 2021. The pros can’t wait to get him.
“Honestly, I don’t care about all that stuff,” Lawrence said. “I just do what I can in the moment. I know I have at least a few more years of college left.”
He wears No. 16 because that was Peyton Manning’s number at Tennessee. (He wore 18 in the NFL.)
“He set such a great example his whole career, the way he played, how sharp he is, how he led those guys when he was playing,” Lawrence said. “The way he carried himself was something I look up to. He was obviously a great player, and that’s something I strive for.”
Lawrence had a chance to talk to his idol on the phone a few weeks ago. “I picked his brain a little bit,” Lawrence said.
He calls Alabama “the best defense we’ve seen up to this point, for sure.” But he said the fact Clemson has played the Tide in the CFP the past three years means the Tigers aren’t in awe of them.
“The thing that hurts (a lot of Alabama opponents) is they’re already thinking they’re going to lose before the game starts,” he said. “We have some experience playing them that will help us.”
“The ability not to make mental mistakes, process the coverage, get out of a bad play into a good play. That is just unbelievable. … He’s a once-in-a-generation type of guy.”
Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle. com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald
from Ohio, and when they saw Lawrence getting into his pickup truck after practice, they got his photo and an autograph, making the trip instantly worthwhile.
Through it all — and here’s a valid comparison to Tagovailoa — there was a striking calmness about Lawrence: never getting rattled on the field, never boastful, content to enjoy a small circle of friends and not get entangled in the socialmedia whirl. Wearing the No. 16 in honor of his idol, Peyton Manning, Lawrence led Cartersville to two straight state titles, and he’s broken all of Deshaun Watson’s freshman passing records at Clemson.
Lawrence conducted a matter-of-fact interview session Saturday, cracking a big smile at the mention of being outnumbered by Tagovailoa’s support group.
“Four hundred? Wow,” he said. “I don’t have that much family. I’ll have ... maybe eight.”
Lawrence will attempt to become the first freshman quarterback to start and win a national title game since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway in 1985. (Troy Aikman, who later transferred to UCLA, broke his ankle in the fourth game that season). But Lawrence is much more familiar with Tagovailoa. Lawrence was a high school senior, watching in amazement, when Tagovailoa threw that epic touchdown pass to win last year’s title.
“That was crazy, how well he handled it,” Lawrence said. “That was definitely one of the best games in a long time, and I really admired what he did. Very cool to see.”
Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist.