Trevor Lawrence film study: Clemson QB survives heat to beat Miami

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for three more touchdowns and almost 300 yards in the win vs. Miami, but dissecting every throw tells more than the box score numbers.

The biggest name in college football has continued to play well to begin his critical junior season. The Clemson Tigers have been nearly unbeatable with Trevor Lawrence under center. His high-level of play has continued through four games.

Lawrence has been under the microscope since the start of his career because of his recruiting status and immense talent. The lanky passer has proven clutch, deadly, and capable of tremendous accomplishments. Though Joe Burrow laid claim to the best season ever for a collegiate quarterback in 2019, Lawrence has the chance to be the best all-time college quarterback.

We’re going to track him closely each week and analyze his play with close scrutiny as the future top draft pick progresses. His raw stats don’t matter as much as his process, which we’ll track by counting catchable passes and situational effectiveness. I’ve tracked over 70 individuals’ seasons since 2012, and Lawrence’s data already compares to some of the best prospects we’ve seen in that timeframe.

The Tigers were able to beat Miami with a comfortable 42-17 margin as their athletes outclassed the Hurricanes’ lack of discipline. Lawrence and the Clemson offense didn’t struggle to convert scoring opportunities but they adjusted their strategy to make it happen. The Tigers asked Lawrence to do less than usual and relied on their playmakers.

We’ll dissect his 29-of-41 passing for 292 yards and three passing scores as we do weekly. Lawrence is now up to 72.4 percent passing, 1,140 yards, 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions on the year. His plays have been as good as those numbers.

Trevor Lawrence withstands pressure to beat Miami

The Hurricanes brought pressure early and often against Lawrence, and the Tigers were ready to give the talented quarterback quick-hitting options to relieve the heat. Taking out his two throwaways, a whopping 16-of-39 total tosses were behind the line of scrimmage. The strategy worked wonderfully, as the Tigers had massive success in the first-half on little screens that gave their playmakers room to win one-on-one.

The rest of his 23 passes were distributed more evenly than what we usually see. Lawrence was accurate on 9-of-12 passes between 0-10 yards, four-of-six from 11-19 yards and two-of-five going deep. His miscues were few and far between.

His situational play remained at a quality level, too. His under pressure passing included four catchable passes on nine attempts and one touchdown, and three of those attempts were beyond 20 yards. He owned conversion downs with seven-of-eight passes landing as catchable, and five attempts going beyond the marker.

These numbers are significant indicators for what’s happening within the scheme and how we can project forward. Clemson does an excellent job creating open receivers and producing easy looks. His first two touchdowns required almost no work of his own and it’s important to note that when looking at his stats.

Very few screens require work from the quarterback, but Lawrence managed to accomplish such a feat on the play below.

We have to see him handle pressure well and improvise in order for him to transcend his peers in the NFL. He regularly does so in his opportunities. And conversion downs show awareness and aggressiveness, and he also does well weekly with continuing to push the ball downfield.

His deep passing has been a continued area of growth. Hitting 40 percent of his attempts deep on any given game is a little below average in college but it’s more about how well he’s dropping in these touch passes than the percent. Some of the higher percentages in my database lacked anything like the consistent understanding and control that Lawrence has on these sideline throws.

His gait has improved significantly since last year. He’s no longer having the huge step forward into his throws that caused the ball to be unpredictable as to its landing trajectory. There’s now much more confidence the ball will be close, if not perfectly thrown, to his target.

He did well to not bite off more of a challenge than what was needed. As much as I’d like to see him have more red zone opportunities to drop back, survey a crowded defense and make a tight window throw, the offense doesn’t manufacture those difficult situations. It’s not Lawrence’s fault he can quickly find open receivers and sometimes they finish the play strongly for him.

It wasn’t a flawless night despite the solid achievements. The lone knock that I’m watching for is the control of his fastball. Especially last season, Lawrence would put some heat on the ball and lose any type of placement and accuracy on it. We haven’t seen it happen this year but it did twice against Miami.

The first time came early on a quick release from the backfield from star runner and receiver Travis Etienne. Lawrence took a quick drop and whipped the ball high and to his back shoulder, forcing an extremely difficult catch and costing any chance to more yards to be gained. It was a shocking play because there was little need for that type of throw.

The second time was a little different because pressure was involved. This third down red zone throw was the one that bothered me more than the previous miss because of the circumstances. A feathery pass over the middle is riskier but would allow his target to work for the catch and potentially score.

Instead, the ball went into the dirt and the Tigers settled for a field goal. It’s an understandable miss given the difficulty of the target window and incoming hit. But it’s also the throw that has allowed Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson become the NFL’s best passers, and that’s the standard we want to see out of Lawrence.

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