Lawrence shines as Clemson stuns Alabama for National Championship

Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers hung 31 points on Alabama in the first half of Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship game and cruised to a 44-16 rout of defending champion Alabama. Prior to the game, Lawrence was named the Football Writers Association of America Freshman of the Year, and he more than lived up to the award. In the end, he was the Offensive MVP of the National Championship Game. Lawrence, who was razor sharp on several crucial third downs and stung the Bama defense with some long plays, finished the night 20-for-32 passing for 347 yards and three touchdowns. The Cartersville native had a five-yard touchdown pass to Travis Etienne on a shovel pass in the second quarter. He then added a 74-yard touchdown strike to Justyn Ross and another five-yarder to Tee HIggins in the third quarter. Lawrence also had six rushing attempts for 27 yards as the Tigers controlled the ball for ten minutes in the fourth quarter.

With their win, Clemson became the first 15-0 team in modern college football history and captured a second national title in the College Football Playoff era. Both of those wins came in championship games against Alabama. It also marks the third national title in Clemson’s history. The first was in 1981. As for Lawrence, he becomes the first true freshman starting quarterback in FBS history to win a national championship since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway did it in 1985.