Story Poster
Photo by © Rey Romo/TexAgs
Clemson Football

Dexter Lawrence: 'We’re not trying to be at the mercy of another team ever again'

October 18, 2018
6,604

Try PREMIUM for just $1


There was little hesitation in Dabo Swinney’s voice.

“I thought they beat us up front last year,” Swinney said. “I thought they won that matchup to be quite honest with you.”

The Clemson head coach was referring to North Carolina State’s offensive line in 2017. The line that was tasked with going up against the mighty front four the Tigers still possess.

The Wolfpack were able to rush for 153 yards on 34 attempts on that November Saturday. The defense as a whole collectively gave up nearly 500 yards to quarterback Ryan Finley and the stingy Wolfpack offense.

Swinney and his coaching staff believed Clemson’s defensive line did not get the push up front we’ve grown so accustomed to seeing. Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence shrugged his shoulders and had to agree.

“They were a little bit more physical and a little bit more ready to play than we were that game. Coach Swinney, he’s kind of been preaching that also and trying to get us right mentally just for the game."
- Dexter Lawrence

“Watching film, definitely. They got us a little bit,” Lawrence said Tuesday. “They were a little bit more physical and a little bit more ready to play than we were that game. Coach Swinney, he’s kind of been preaching that also and trying to get us right mentally just for the game. We know what we are going up against.”

The defensive line may know what they are going up against, but do you?

This is an offensive line that rarely gives up a sack. Finley has only been sacked twice, which is second to only Buffalo nationally in sacks give up. The offensive line has yet to give up a sack on third down or at all during ACC play.

It won’t show up in the stats, but the line does enough of a job to give Finley the time he needs to make quick throws. Swinney described the Wolfpack offensive line in three words - Physical. Nasty. Aggressive.

“This is one of the best offensive lines we’ll see,” Swinney added. “They do a great job of cutting on the backside and a great job of mauling your linebackers on the second level. They got an All-American candidate at left tackle. They have three of their starters back from a year ago.”

© Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
Dexter Lawrence and Clemson's defense have been challenged by Dabo Swinney this week.

That’s where the competition comes in. N.C. State’s line has the experience of beating down Clemson’s front four a year ago. Lawrence said his group of guys are as competitive as anyone. They know what is at stake this week.

In fact, they spent a part of their bye week sending videos of their workouts to each other to show that they’ve been staying focused.

“We don’t like getting beat by anybody,” Lawrence said. “We’re very competitive. We’re the type of guys - the whole group as a unit - we were sending each other little videos of our workouts over the bye week just trying to stay healthy, stay right so we don’t have to get right during the week.

“You can kind of see it as a little edge. We hate when coach Swinney comes in there saying someone kicked our tail or something like that. We just try to keep that off the film.”
- Dexter Lawrence

“You can kind of see it as a little edge. We hate when coach Swinney comes in there saying someone kicked our tail or something like that. We just try to keep that off the film.”

We wrote earlier in the week how players used the bye week to get away from the game and recharge. With Lawrence, that wasn’t going to fly.

“I didn’t like the break,” he said. “I’m ready to go play some more football.”

Lawrence spent his Saturday away from football watching more football than he thinks he probably ever has in his life. He didn’t say what games he watched or which ones stuck out, but he did, however, say he noticed a few teams approached some games without the same mindset that they had at the beginning of the year.

Maybe it was one of the four top-10 teams that went down.

Lawrence knows Clemson can’t afford to let that happen this week. After the 2017 regular season loss to Syracuse, Clemson had to play its way into the ACC championship game along with some help from the Wolfpack.

North Carolina State had to drop two ACC contests to ensure Clemson got its spot in the championship game. Wake Forest beat the Wolfpack 30-24 late in November.

“We’re not trying to be at the mercy of another team ever again."
- Dexter Lawrence

Swinney noted on Tuesday that you can’t win the division this week. But with the way the Atlantic is shaping up this year, you put yourself in the driver's seat of a car in the fast lane if you can pull out a victory this weekend.

Lawrence, along with the other veterans on this team, know how important controlling your own destiny can be.

“As a team, we understand that we control our outcomes. We control how we play, our mindsets, things like that,” Lawrence said. “Coach Swinney said the other day that if we lose, we’ll be at the mercy of another team.

“We’re not trying to be at the mercy of another team ever again. The veterans of this team understand that because this past season, we’ve lost in the middle of the season and we hate that feeling.”

Discussion from...

Dexter Lawrence: 'We’re not trying to be at the mercy of another team ever again'

6,369 Views | 0 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Sanders Sullivan
There are not any replies to this post yet.
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.