College football week 1: 5 bold predictions sure to come true

2. Trevor Lawrence heats up a Clemson QB controversy

Perhaps one of the most shocking developments over the past week as head coaches across the country named their starting quarterbacks came from Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers. Despite the inclusion of 5-star freshman Trevor Lawrence in the program and the rave reviews he’s drawn since joining the program, Swinney opted to stick with consistency and named last year’s starter, Kelly Bryant, the starter for the 2018 season as well.

Bryant and the Tigers as a whole shouldn’t have any semblance of trouble in Week 1 of the college football season. They’re taking on the Furman Paladins and, well, this should ultimately be a blowout. Bryant will likely throw well enough against a subpar defense and make plays with his feat to jump out to an early lead. With that big cushion, the best guess would be that the freshman will then get his first taste of action, perhaps playing most (if not all) of the second half.

When that happens, there is going to be a quarterback controversy that starts brewing. Many times when a backup quarterback comes in during a blowout, the offense stalls by comparison. In this instance, however, I think Lawrence’s superior talent level as a quarterback shines through and Clemson actually looks better offensively once he gets into the game.

With a big-time matchup against Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M looming for next week, Lawrence is going to look better than Bryant in the opener and put up better numbers. And that’s going to get fans and pundits talking about the freshman potentially giving this Tigers team the best chance to compete at the highest level.