Trevor Lawrence film study: Clemson QB sloppy against Virginia Tech

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence was uncharacteristically sloppy against Virginia Tech.

The Clemson Tigers had a close first-half against the disappointing Virginia Tech Hokies before turnovers and explosive runs helped open the wound. The Tigers outscored their foe 28-0 in the second half, and needed little from Heisman Trophy candidate Trevor Lawrence. The quarterback had the least productive and efficient performance since his season-opener against Georgia Tech in 2019.

Lawrence has been the star of our weekly film series. His critical junior season is almost over, but the book hasn’t been finished yet. The future No. 1 overall pick is extraordinarily talented, and we’re tracking his every throw.

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. We’ll dissect his 12-of-22 passing for 195 yards, one passing score and one interception as we do weekly.

Sometimes the numbers don’t accurately reflect the impact or quality of play of an individual. But Lawrence’s performance against Virginia Tech was not in that category. Lawrence had just a few notably good throws and as many poor decisions.

The 2020 season has been quite overall for the future No. 1 overall pick. He’s completed a career-best 69 percent of throws for 2,431 yards, a career-best 9.7 average yards per completion, and a 174.9 quarterback rating. His 20 touchdowns to three interceptions also reflect better efficiency and decision-making.

This is a game he’ll want to forget, though. The Hokies were able to mirror Syracuse’s strategy of relying on their secondary to provide tight coverage and blitz Lawrence as much as they could. Lawrence responded poorly in both games, losing the consistency he’s had throughout the rest of the season.

Only 15 of Lawrence’s passes went beyond the line of scrimmage, with six being behind the line of scrimmage and one being an obvious throwaway. There have been instances throughout Lawrence’s career where 15 passes are more than enough for him to shred a defense and then sit before the end of the third quarter. But this happened because drives stalled as pressure quickly reached the backfield and Lawrence had to turn to the ground to find success.

Lawrence ran for a season-high 41 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. He found creases in the red zone twice and took full advantage on read options. This was the most we’ve seen this powerful offense scrap all year.

There weren’t a lot of opportunities in the passing game to overcome the great defense. Seven of the 15 downfield pass attempts came under pressure, and only three were catchable. Lawrence is typically stellar when bodies are flying at him but the windows were either minuscule or impossible to hit.

Virginia Tech forced Trevor Lawrence into some sloppy throws and poor decisions

Outside of this early hit that was designed to spring an open man up the middle of the field, the offense had to rely on the ground game. Receivers weren’t springing open, and the defense swarmed to potential launch points even if Lawrence could try to escape and extend plays from the pocket. This was one of his three best throws of the day.

The way he reset the pocket with his big step forward after realizing the edge defenders were taking wide arcs is great awareness. He’d get sandwiched by his blockers had he stood still, and potentially fumbled or miss the chance to release the ball. He created the chance to earn yards.

His lone touchdown pass was a beautiful one and his lone chance to hit on a big play. The 2nd-and-26 deep ball was a dagger into the Hokies as they extended their lead in the early fourth quarter. The arc he utilized on this pass allowed his receiver to slow just a tad to make the catch but not enough to threaten the ball’s safety or chance to create post-catch.

The rest of the passing game was a mess. Lawrence was uncharacteristically inaccurate on all but one of his five throws from 11-19 yards and had two interceptable throws. This early dropped interception would’ve put the Tigers’ defense in a much different position since the turnover would’ve given the Hokies possession near the red zone.

Lawrence simply didn’t read the defender correctly, and the corner just attacked the ball as the receiver neared his zone. This is a textbook bait job and the pressure hastened Lawrence’s processing into a mistake. Every quarterback gets worse under pressure but this isn’t what we usually see, and certainly don’t want to see, from the gunslinger.

His interceptable throw that was caught was one of the most popular ones. Normally elite in the red zone, Lawrence either didn’t see the safety rotate post-snap as he read his eyes, or thought his throw could beat the defender. The safety simply stepped in front of his throw.

Neither interceptable throw is the norm for Lawrence but they’re also notably bad plays that kept the offense from converting third downs. He’ll be facing pressure and tight coverages often in the NFL, especially if he goes to the lowly New York Jets. He doesn’t have to be perfect but upcoming games against Notre Dame and potentially the College Football Playoff need to show better tendencies in these situations.

Failing to do so may open the door for Justin Fields to steal the top draft spot. Fields also had a rough outing already this season but is a terrific athlete, extremely smart and also explosive. It wouldn’t be shocking to see a team value Fields more than Lawrence if the latter doesn’t play better under NFL-like circumstances.

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