Trevor Lawrence gets last laugh against Miami after taking tough hit
Trevor Lawrence was down on the field in pain surrounded by seven Clemson staff members during the third quarter of Saturday’s game against Miami after getting drilled by Hurricanes defender Keontra Smith.
Miami’s sophomore safety broke free on a blitz and punished Lawrence in the rib area, earning a targeting call in the process for leading with the crown of his helmet.
Lawrence stayed down for about a minute and 25 seconds before hopping up and jogging to the sideline, as if to let Miami know that he might have been down momentarily but he would be back.
Four plays later, Lawrence was jogging into the end zone, scoring on a 3-yard run to give the Tigers a 25-point lead late in the third quarter of an eventual 42-17 thumping of the seventh-ranked Hurricanes. Clemson was already in control before Lawrence’s touchdown run, but it provided an exclamation mark on a statement win over a top 10 and undefeated Miami team.
Lawrence showed off his fiery side after scoring, spiking the ball, before exchanging a few words with Miami safety Gilbert Frierson.
The spike earned Lawrence a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but it also capped off an impressive drive in which he displayed his toughness and determination.
“When your best players are your hardest workers, your most fierce competitors, it just resonates throughout the whole locker room and the whole team,” Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “Would like to see him not spike the ball there, but that just goes to illustrate how competitive he is. ... You just love the fire and the toughness that Trevor plays with.”
Lawrence’s rushing touchdown was one of four scores he accounted for on the night.
The junior quarterback was 29 of 41 passing for 292 yards and three touchdowns. He added 34 yards on the ground, while taking multiple tough hits, including a pair that resulted in targeting calls.
In addition to Smith’s ejection, Miami safety Amari Carter was called for targeting on Lawrence in the first quarter, hitting the quarterback high when he slid on a 10-yard run.
Through all of the blitzes and hits, Lawrence kept coming back for more, without batting an eye.
“One of the most important things as a quarterback is being tough,” Lawrence said. “That’s just something I pride myself on is not trying to come out.”
Lawrence’s teammates certainly took notice, including star running back Travis Etienne. The senior had a huge game of his own, accounting for 222 total yards and two scores. During the game Lawrence and Etienne were way too much for a Miami offense that the Tigers had no trouble containing.
After the game Etienne said that he loves playing alongside a competitor like Lawrence.
“That’s something you can’t coach. Either you have it or you don’t,” Etienne said. “Trevor definitely has the ‘it’ factor. That’s why it’s so easy to rally around him because he wants it just as bad as you and he’s out there giving it his all for his team.”
Lawrence admitted after the game that he was “sore,” and he expects to be sore again on Sunday as well.
But he wasn’t about to let a little pain give Miami the satisfaction of knocking him out of the game. Lawrence did finally leave the game late in the fourth quarter, but only because he had proven his point while helping Clemson build an insurmountable lead.
“Just to come back in the game and finish the drive was super important for the momentum of the game. It really gave us some momentum,” Lawrence said of his response after the third quarter hit. “That was just a dumb play on my part (to spike the ball). That’s not what we’re coached to do. That’s not who we are. I’ll take that one. I shouldn’t have done that, but man, I was just pumped. I was just fired up.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Trevor Lawrence gets last laugh against Miami after taking tough hit."
