Friday night, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence leads the Tigers back to New Orleans to play Ohio State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The winner plays the Notre Dame/Alabama winner for the national championship.
Last January, Clemson lost to LSU, 42-25 in the College Football Playoff championship game. Lawrence said that defeat made him better.
The defeat was the only one of Lawrence’s college career.
This season, Lawrence has thrown 22 touchdown passes, against only four interceptions. He has also rushed for seven touchdowns.
Here’s the transcript of his interview today with media.
On his legacy at Clemson and in college football: “I haven’t necessarily thought about what my legacy would be. I have been trying to live in the moment these past three years and trying to be the best I can be whatever moment I’m in. So, that has been my mindset and I think that helps you leave a legacy if you just try to live and be your best in every moment. At the end of the day, I just want people to say, I want people to speak to my character more than the type of player I am or was. I want to just be a good person, and I think that’s the number one goal for me. Obviously, the play and all that stuff, all the accolades, kind of will eventually speak for itself. But, that is really not the main thing for me. It’s just being a good person and being a good teammate. I hope that is what people say about me when whenever I leave here [Clemson].”
On his role in and impact of the ‘We Want to Play’ movement: “It’s cool to be a part of something like that. It wasn’t just me. My name just kind of gets thrown on the label and headline, and everything but it definitely was not just me. I probably didn’t even do most of the work. It’s cool to be a part of it and I think we’ll [the players] look back on that as a pretty cool moment and kind of a turning point. Honestly, I think it gave a lot of people some opportunities which was kind of the goal. This game [football] means a lot to a lot of people, and I think that playing this year helped a lot of people. You think about one of our receivers, Cornell Powell, a fifth-year senior who hadn’t played a ton up until this point, and this was kind of his year. He had a really good spring and fall camp. He was expecting this year to be the year to prove himself and without a season he’s in a whole different situation. He just got invited to the Senior Bowl. He has had a great year, been a great teammate, and again, without a season, that changes a lot for him. That is just one example. So, hopefully, playing this year has helped a lot of people and it’s been worth it. I think it’s been a success if you look at how 2020 has gone. I think this [season] has been a success.”
On how much his one college loss sticks in his mind: “What could have been. It would have been cool to have the opportunity to not lose a game in college but I think some things are necessary for you to grow. You’ve got to face a little bit of adversity and sometimes you’re a little bit blinded by success if you don’t have any hiccups along the way. I think for us [Clemson] and for me personally, it was good for us to not win that [CFP National Championship] game in a lot of ways. Obviously, you want to win a National Championship and it’s definitely devastating in the moment. After that, I think we have gotten a lot better. I learned a lot about myself. There’s a lot of things I needed to work on to be a better player. I think leading in times when things are harder, when you lose a game is definitely harder than when you’re winning. So, it taught me a little about how to lead better. Just all those things. I think we kind of needed that [loss] and at the end of the day we don’t want to take winning for granted. We win a lot around here, and it’s easy to forget how hard it is to win when you win so much. I think it taught us a lot and I think we [Clemson] took that next step as a program and team because of that. Obviously, you don’t choose losing going forward but sometimes it’s better for you.”
On his time knowing and competing against Ohio State’s Justin Fields: “It’s cool. As I’ve said before, it’s a small world. He’s from right down the road from me, probably 20-30 minutes and just to be playing each other for the second time. We have kind of been matched up for years going back to high school. I haven’t really seen it as that [a competition]. We’re just out here [on the field]. We’re friends and we have a good relationship. People like to pin it as that; just me against him. At the end of the day, it’s just fun getting the opportunity to play a team like Ohio State. Obviously, a huge brand, great team year in and year out and to get the opportunity to play them is what you’d expect in a [College Football Playoff] semifinal. We’re playing the best of the best so we’re excited for that opportunity. It does make it cooler that the guy on the other sideline is from right down the road from me. It’s pretty cool. We played them last year, and it was a crazy game. I’m definitely looking forward to it [the Sugar Bowl].”
On what he’s learned about himself from past mistakes: “That’s part of every week. The process is evaluating the game and regardless of how well I played, there’s always something I can get better at or there’s something that I missed. Whatever it may be. That’s the thing I love about Coach [Brandon] Streeter, quarterback coach, is that he’s pretty hard on me but in a good way. He wants me to be my best and he’s not going to let anything slide. So, he holds me accountable and I also expect a lot from myself. I go in there [my mind] and those are the main things I’m looking at. What I can get better at. Obviously, the good stuff is expected to a certain degree but I’m just looking at what I can get better at. I have obviously had a few turnovers this year and definitely made an improvement from last year. That was one of my main goals. I’m just realizing that nobody’s perfect and it’s [struggles] going to happen. I’m just focused on playing my game, to play comfortably, and if there’s going to be a few turnovers then it’s just part of the [quarterback] position. I’m just staying confident and not letting that get in my head and I’ll keep playing my game and not really changing. But, learning for sure from some of those ill-advised throws and throws that could’ve been picked off and ones that were then just learning how do I get better from that. Every week I can do that.”