After the way Trevor Lawrence shredded Alabama’s defense in last year’s College Football Playoff National Championship, it wasn’t hard to believe he was untouchable. Let’s face it, very few quarterbacks have done that to a Nick Saban defense and never a freshman quarterback.
You can imagine the surprise when Lawrence’s second-quarter throw to Cornell Powell was intercepted by Tre Swilling and returned 41 yards to the Clemson 2-yard line. Head coach Dabo Swinney was surprised, co-offensive coordinators Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott were surprised, and of course, Lawrence was surprised.
Prior to Swilling’s interception, Lawrence threw 182 consecutive passes without an interception, second in Clemson history all-time.