As a true freshman in 2013 Lawson earned Freshman All-American honors by recording 20 tackles, including 7.5 for a loss from his defensive end position. There was a lot of hype surrounding him entering his sophomore year as he was named to the preseason All-SEC second team, but he ended up missing the entire season due to an ACL injury.
He came out with a bang to start 2015 as he was a major factor in Auburn gaining a big lead over Louisville in the first half, but then injury struck again. He missed the next six games due to a hip injury and was limited in the games that he did play in as he finished the season with just 17 tackles and 3 tackles for a loss.