Trevor Lawrence Took a 'Little While' to Move on from 1st Loss as Clemson QB

Trevor Lawrence will never forget his first loss.   

The Clemson quarterback suffered his first collegiate defeat at the hands of LSU in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Jan. 13. He opened up about it at spring workouts on Wednesday, admitting it took him "a little while" to swallow the defeat: 

LSU handled Clemson 42-25 as Lawrence went 18-for-37 for 234 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. The 20-year-old also rushed for 49 yards and one touchdown. 

The result snapped Clemson's 29-game winning streak, which dated back to Jan. 1, 2018.

Lawrence sprung to national stardom as a true freshman in 2018, leading Clemson to an undefeated campaign and beating top-ranked Alabama 44-16 in the title game. As a sophomore last season, he overcame a relatively slow start to finish with 3,665 yards, 36 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 65.8 percent completion.

Head coach Dabo Swinney was encouraged by what he saw from his team after Wednesday's opening to spring practice:

Clemson is in a more favorable position because Lawrence is returning while LSU and Alabama lost Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow and 2018 Heisman finalist Tua Tagovailoa, respectively, to the 2020 NFL draft. 

On Feb. 17, ESPN ranked Clemson No. 1 in its FPI preseason Top 10, giving it the top projected defense and the No. 4 projected offense.