It took 4 games, but it looks like the Trevor Lawrence era is officially starting at Clemson. This morning Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney named Trevor Lawrence the starting QB for this weekend’s game against Syracuse. The move comes after Lawrence had his best game of the season against Georgia Tech. While Kelly Bryant was named the starting QB coming out of fall camp the coaching staff emphasized that the competition would continue into the season with both players splitting reps fairly evenly. The staff would then lean on the better QB when needed such as against Texas A&M with Bryant and then with Lawrence against Georgia Tech. But Lawrence’s performance against the Yellow Jackets appears to have been enough for the staff to make the switch. The question going forward will be how the staff rotates the QBs. There hasn’t been a publicly announced decision on that, and it will likely continue to be a week to week thing as well as dependent on how each game plays out. But if the staff is making a change to the actual starter it is likely that Lawrence will take on the more traditional role of the starting QB with Bryant getting situational and blow out snaps.<doc-sep>Mike Stewart/Associated Press The Clemson Tigers made a change at quarterback Monday ahead of their game against Syracuse on Saturday, naming Trevor Lawrence the starter over Kelly Bryant, per Matt Fortuna of The Athletic. Head coach Dabo Swinney noted Bryant will be involved in the game plan in some capacity, according to Kevin McGuire of College Football Talk. Lawrence, a true freshman and 5-star recruit, has lived up to the hype thus far, throwing for 600 yards and nine touchdowns with two interceptions. He lit up Georgia Tech on Saturday, completing 13 of 18 passes for 176 yards and four touchdowns with an interception. Swinney lauded Lawrence after the game, per Grace Raynor of the Post and Courier: "He really played well. It was certainly his best game. He was very poised, and I think the game has slowed down for him. He's making good decisions, and he's decisive with the ball. "He made some beautiful throws. Some beautiful throws. He's a work in progress every week, and every week is a season of its own. I thought it was definitely his best game." Video Play Button Videos you might like Bryant hasn't been poor in 2018, throwing for 461 yards and two touchdowns with a pick. He also brings another dimension to the offense with his legs, having run for 130 yards and two scores. Still, the timing of Swinney's decision had folks wondering if Bryant could transfer: Regardless, Lawrence has been good enough to start, even if he's said he's fine with any role the coaches give him: "I just had a feeling before the [Georgia Tech] game that this was going to be one of my better games, so it was good. I'm comfortable doing whatever the coaches want to do. If they want to split reps still, I'm going to do that and do the best I can with that. If they want to give me more reps, like whatever, I'm just going to go out there and play." Now, the next time he goes out and plays, he'll be doing so as Clemson's starting signal-caller.<doc-sep>Clemson-Syracuse depth charts released TigerNet Staff by Changes on Clemson's depth chart for Syracuse were headlined by the announcement earlier on Monday that freshman Trevor Lawrence has moved to the No. 1 QB role. Bryant had started the previous 18 games, going 16-2 with one loss coming when Bryant left the game midway through due to injury (Syracuse in 2017). Lawrence ranks in the top-10 nationally in passing efficiency (8th) and yards per attempt (10) going into his fifth game as a Tiger. Also on offense, junior running back Tavien Feaster is now up to a co-backup role with Adam Choice after his eight rushes for 75 yards with a touchdown Saturday at Georgia Tech. On the defensive side, redshirt freshman LeAnthony Williams was added to the two-deep as a co-backup to Trayvon Mullen with true freshman Kyler McMichael. Check out Clemson's and Syracuse's depth charts below for the noon kickoff on Saturday (ABC):<doc-sep>
It seemed as though it were only a matter of time before Trevor Lawrence became Clemson's starting quarterback, and it appears the time has arrived. Clemson announced Monday that Lawrence, a five-star true freshman, would be the team's starting QB against Syracuse this week. The news doesn't come as much of a surprise after seeing Lawrence receive the majority of snaps during Clemson's 49-21 win over Georgia Tech this past weekend. Lawrence threw 18 passes to Kelly Bryant's 10, and he was far more effective with his attempts, throwing four touchdowns and averaging 9.8 yards per attempt. Both have been sharing time for the Tigers all season, and while neither has played poorly, Lawrence has been the better of the two. He's thrown for nine touchdowns to only two interceptions while averaging 10 yards per attempt. Bryant has a higher completion percentage (66.7 to 65) but has only two touchdown passes and an interception. Lawrence's passer efficiency rating of 191.83 dwarfs Bryant's mark of 146.90. While Bryant has been the better rusher of the two, the advantage there hasn't been extensive enough to warrant him keeping the starting job in the eyes of the Clemson coaching staff. Now, what isn't clear at this point is whether or not Bryant will still see time during games. We don't know if Lawrence has taken the job for himself, or if we'll see a situation like the one at Alabama where Tua Tagovailoa gets the majority of the snaps, but Jalen Hurts continues to see time as well.