Trevor Lawrence admitted he felt nerves Tuesday night in Clemson’s football facility during the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
They weren’t quite as high as they were this summer, when Lawrence proposed to high school sweetheart Marissa Mowry at Death Valley, but they were still there.
The Tigers’ quarterback knew how much the award would mean to his family and his program, which had yet to produce a winner when Lawrence was named a finalist last month.
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But the wait for the Tigers will continue. Lawrence is expected to declare imminently for the NFL Draft as the projected top pick, so his remarkable college career likely ends without a Heisman. He joins former Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson in coming close but not hearing his name called to hoist the bronze trophy.
Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith is the 86th Heisman winner, as announced during a remote presentation show on ESPN. Smith totaled 1,856 points and 447 first-place votes, while Lawrence had 1,187 total points and 222 first-place votes. Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and Florida quarterback Kyle Trask, fellow finalists, finished third and fourth.
A wide receiver had not won the award since Michigan’s Desmond Howard in 1991, and Smith’s statistics are hard to argue against. He picked up momentum as the season closed. Heading into the national championship game Monday against Ohio State, the senior wideout has 105 receptions for 1,641 yards and 20 touchdowns — all of which lead the nation.
Smith’s win marks the first time since 2015 that a quarterback didn’t claim the honor.
Lawrence entered the season as the Heisman favorite and finished his junior season with 3,153 passing yards and 24 touchdowns against five interceptions in 10 games. He excelled despite missing star wide receiver Justyn Ross for the entire season and projected wideout starters Joseph Ngata and Frank Ladson Jr. for most of it. But he missed two games after testing positive for COVID-19 in October, including the first top-five showdown against Notre Dame. Jones and Trask put up flashier numbers.
After Clemson beat Notre Dame in the ACC title game last month, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told a national TV audience just before the Heisman voting deadline:
“It would be a crying shame if the Heisman didn’t attach their name to Trevor Lawrence.”
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But Lawrence couldn’t overcome Smith’s season. Watson, a two-time finalist, also finished runner-up as a junior in 2016, coming in behind Louisville’s Lamar Jackson. Jackson received 2,144 total points and 525 first-place votes to Watson’s 1,524 points and 269 first-place votes.
Lawrence and the Tigers won the national title when he was a freshman in 2018, but he had only taken over as the starter during the season. As a sophomore, he finished seventh with LSU quarterback Joe Burrow running away with the award.
Clemson fans probably can’t help but think, if Watson can’t win, and Lawrence can’t win, which Tigers player can?
D.J. Uiagalelei, Lawrence’s heir apparent, is tied with North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell for the second-best odds to win the award in 2021, coming in early at 7/1, behind Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler at 5/1.
Lawrence has everything in front of him. He’s expected to go No. 1 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in April’s draft.
“I just think he represents everything that’s great about college football,” Swinney said on ESPN. “He’s been such an ambassador not just for this team, but for everyone. A standard of excellence, a commitment to excellence.”
Lawrence, flanked by Mowry to his right and his father, Jeremy, and mother, Amanda, to his left, watched the ceremony from Clemson’s football facility with his closest circle. Older brother, Chase, younger sister, Olivia, Swinney and Clemson running back Darien Rencher — Lawrence’s closest friend on the football team — all joined him.
Lawrence’s memorable year began this offseason when he and Mowry started a fund to financially support those who had been impacted by COVID-19. This summer, he joined Rencher, linebacker Mike Jones Jr. and wide receiver Cornell Powell in planning a peaceful demonstration against racial injustice on Clemson’s campus. He advocated for peace and moved an audience of a few thousand with his words.
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When COVID-19 threatened to shut down the college football season, Lawrence became the face of the #WeWantToPlay movement, as a group of players from Power 5 conferences put their heads together to try to save their seasons.
No one had more to lose than Lawrence by playing in 2020, and yet he insisted every week he wanted nothing more than to play.
No player in college football was under scrutiny quite like Lawrence this year, but he handled it with his signature poise at each turn.
Lawrence likely leaves Clemson with one national championship, three ACC championships, one ACC Player of the Year honor and three College Football Playoff berths. For his career, he passed for 10,098 yards, 90 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, with a 34-2 record that makes him the winningest quarterback in Clemson history.
“I think how crazy this year was in general, that was kind of the last thing on my mind, was winning the Heisman,” Lawrence said on ESPN. “(I was) just trying to be a good teammate and playing the best I can every week for my team was the main thing. And trying to stay healthy with COVID and everything going on.
“But to be here now is a great feeling.”
Swinney this month called his QB the “greatest winner” he had ever been around.
“It’s been a joy to watch him from a young age (with) his passion and love for the game — all the hard work and sacrifice and being able to pick the university and the program that really fit him,” his father said, “and go to that environment and really thrive and flourish on and off the field.
“Just really proud of the man he’s become.”
(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
