Trevor Lawrence is 16-0 since he took over as Clemson’s starting quarterback in late September 2018. In those games, the Tigers have outscored their opponents by an average of 31 points.

So, rarely has Lawrence been in a close contest. But that was the case two weeks ago in Chapel Hill, when the Tigers were tied with North Carolina in the fourth quarter and needed a score to win.

“That is the first time maybe that Trevor’s been in that situation,” co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott pointed out this week.

Lawrence came through in crunch time, leading a six-play, 55-yard drive that he capped with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins to put Clemson ahead, 21-14, with 9:54 remaining in the eventual 21-20 victory.

“What we learned is maybe what we already think about Trevor – he’s not a guy that plays tight,” Scott said. “You’ve got to give North Carolina credit. They did a good job. Their game plan was really to kind of limit our possessions, create a long game, get it into the fourth quarter and then put all the pressure on us.

“So, maybe the normal situation for a quarterback in that situation would be to press and maybe not be able to execute. But Trevor was calm and he knew exactly what he was seeing and did a really good job on that last drive and went down and executed.”

Scott knows Clemson did not perform nearly as well as it is capable of offensively against UNC, producing a season-low outpoint in points (21) and total yards (331). However, Scott was pleased to see the offense step up when it mattered most.

“There’s something to be said for that,” he said. “You’re going to have games where you’re not playing as efficient and executing as well as you need to. But being able to find a way to win those games even though you’re not playing your best is really what allows you to have the long string of consistency that we’ve had.

“Obviously didn’t want to go through it, but it’ll definitely be a good experience in case we find ourselves in a similar situation down the road.”

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