Trevor Lawrence: "I just think our energy wasn't what it needed to be"

Here are a few unedited notes from Trevor Lawrence following Clemson’s 47-21 win over Syracuse. Lawrence was 27-43 for 289 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

Trevor Lawrence

On his thoughts on the game:

"Yeah, I think it's obvious, we didn't play our best game. I played our worst game up to this point, especially offensively. That starts with me, I think, you know, didn't play the worst game in my career but just didn't play great. Pretty inaccurate at times, four or five throws that I should make, would have kept some drives alive. A couple of throws, I didn't necessarily miss, but just a little high. Didn't give our guys the best chance to catch them. Just ball placement wasn't great. I'll take responsibility for that and go to work and get better.”

On Clemson’s energy:

"I just think our energy wasn't what it needed to be. At the end of the game, we picked it up and found a way to win. Finished well, but definitely gonna have to play better down the stretch, we want to get to where we want to go. And like I said, that starts with me, I don't think I played a very good game today. That's pretty much it though."

On why the energy seemed off:

"I think just some of our drives are stalling out. It's just kind of frustrating, it kind of sinks in a little bit, but we just kept encouraging one another, stayed in the game and just kept trying to attack trying to get something going and eventually, you know, put together some drives. 

On some of the deep balls:

"Yeah, I mean, that's always part of our game plan is to have some shots and we took a couple didn't really connect on any a few times. They did a good job when they played man, a lot of times they played a little bit softer catch technique. It's hard to win like that, as a receiver, as a quarterback, both it's hard to get a clean shot right there. So they did a good job with their technique. They were just kind of sitting at depth and jumping throughout. They did a good job there too. I mean, it's just like, we didn't make the plays that were there. I missed a few throws, I should have-- the one to Amari-- the deep ball. I didn't necessarily miss the throw, but a little bit far-- had to layout. It's a  tough catch for him. So make that a little bit easier, then Joe Ngata had a good release and won on his vertical, I think it was in the second half, I might have underthrew it a little bit.”

On the trick play from Amari Rodgers:

“Yeah, it was open. They don’t say anything bad about me when I underthrow a pass so I’m not going to say anything bad about him. Still got some positive yards. I think before that I had negative receiving yards in my Clemson career.”