Clemson Football: Starting Trevor Lawrence the right call for Tigers

After platooning two quarterbacks early on, Clemson football has turned their quest for a fourth consecutive College Football Playoff bid over to Trevor Lawrence.

The program confirmed on Monday morning that the true freshman has replaced senior Kelly Bryant as the leader of the offense. The Tigers face Syracuse this Saturday.

In wins over Furman, Texas A&M, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech, Lawrence and Bryant worked on a situational rotation with the upperclassmen starting all four games. However, it was Lawrence who shined bright in terms of stats and production, which made the decision a little easier on the coaching staff to make.

Dabo Swinney has built himself a deep and talented roster in Clemson, but he has had to deal with these kind of things in the past. Deshaun Watson wasn’t given the role of QB1 until Cole Stoudt struggled, as that was another case of a freshman taking over from an experienced leader.

Over the early quarter of the season, Lawrence has completed 39 of 60 passes for 600 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Bryant, who missed time with an injury, is 36-for-54 for 461 with two touchdowns and a pick. He has out-rushed Lawrence, 130-24, but it’s difficult to ignore the big stat in touchdowns.

This is a time and era in college football when you  need to be producing points – and producing them in big bunches. Lawrence has done that, and it isn’t as if he only plays in blowouts when Clemson is up big.

Lawrence entered in a tight situation on the road at College Station and immediately delivered, connecting with Diondre Overton for a 64-yard touchdown. While it was Bryant that took over and led the team to a win, in all honesty, it was more of a case of Texas A&M running out of time late.

That game, though, might have been just what Lawrence needed. It showed that 18-year-old that he is vulnerable, a trait he overcame vs. Georgia Tech this past weekend.

Playing again in front of a rowdy crowd in the ACC opener for the defending league champions, Lawrence didn’t back down. Clemson scored on three of its four drives with him under center, as he finished 13 of 18 for 176 yards with four touchdowns. Bryant completed just six passes for 56 yards, and you could tell it was a changing of the guard time.

The Tigers are set to jump head-first into the ACC grind, as they head to Wake Forest next week with NC State and Florida State to finish out October. Lawrence will be put to the test over these next four games, and the fate of Clemson’s title hopes will rest on his big-time arm and long blonde hair.