Lawrence, the Tigers’ highly-touted freshman quarterback, makes the first start of his collegiate career Saturday when No. 3 Clemson hosts Syracuse in a noon matchup in Death Valley. After Lawrence lit up Georgia Tech in spot duty to the tune of 176 passing yards and four TDs, Clemson officially named him the starting QB over senior Kelly Bryant.
Many anticipated this might happen, given Bryant’s struggles to get the passing game going against better defenses in 2017 (particularly Alabama) and Lawrence’s rare talent. So far in 2018, Clemson’s offense has been more efficient under Lawrence, significantly so on passing downs.