Trevor Lawrence Shakes Off Early Struggles; Leads Clemson to Win vs. Louisville

The No. 3 Clemson Tigers remained undefeated Saturday with a 45-10 road victory over the Louisville Cardinals at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.

Clemson improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in ACC play on the season, while Louisville dropped to 4-3 with a 2-2 mark in conference games.

While sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence had an up-and-down day for the Tigers, running back Travis Etienne ran wild, and the Clemson defense shut the Cardinals down to the tune of 263 total yards allowed and three turnovers forced.

Dating back to the 2017 season, Clemson has now won 21 consecutive games.

Notable Stats

Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson: 20-of-29 for 233 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT, 10 carries for 47 yards

Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson: 14 carries for 192 yards, 1 TD, 4 receptions for 35 yards

Justyn Ross, WR, Clemson: 5 receptions for 55 yards, 1 TD

Micale Cunningham, QB, Louisville: 4-of-11 for 63 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT

Javian Hawkins, RB, Louisville: 26 carries for 129 yards, 1 TD

Dez Fitzpatrick, WR, Louisville: 3 receptions for 63 yards

Etienne, Dominant Defense Pick Up Slack for Inconsistent Lawrence

Lawrence entered the 2019 season as a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, but he has fallen out of the race due largely to his inability to protect the football.

That was on display once again Saturday, as he threw interceptions in the end zone on two of Clemson's first three drives.

After his second interception of the game, both Bleacher Report's Matt Miller and Pete Prisco of CBS Sports noted how much Lawrence has seemingly fallen off since last season:

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic provided some context after the second interception regarding how much Lawrence has struggled protecting the football in comparison to 2018:

Lawrence's slow start may have severely damaged a lesser team's chances of winning, but head coach Dabo Swinney looked to his running game and defense to step up.

They did precisely that, as Etienne rushed for nearly 200 yards, and the defense forced three turnovers of their own.

With other aspects of Clemson's game operating to near perfection, it allowed Lawrence to settle in and turn things around.

Lawrence threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Joe Ngata early in the second quarter to extend the Tigers' lead to 10-0 and then found wideout Justyn Ross in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard scoring strike with just five seconds remaining in the half:

Scott Keepfer of the Greenville News pointed out how much better Lawrence looked for the remainder of the first half after the two interceptions:

Lawrence threw his third and final touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard toss to Cornell Powell to essentially put the game away at 31-3.

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out that Lawrence excelled under pressure Saturday despite some of his early struggles:

There is no question that Lawrence hasn't been the same player this season that decimated Alabama's defense in the National Championship Game last season, but it hasn't mattered much for the Tigers.

Clemson has an easy schedule down the stretch, and unless there is a shocking upset along the way, it is likely that the Tigers will be back in the College Football Playoff.

They will need far better play from Lawrence to win back-to-back national titles, though, and perhaps Lawrence's improved performance as the game wore on will be the start of a big turnaround for him moving forward.

What's Next?

Clemson will be a heavy favorite to improve to 8-0 next week when it hosts the 4-3 Boston College Eagles in a Saturday night game.

Louisville will have a tougher test on its hands in the form of a home game against the 4-2 Virginia Cavaliers.