We’ll be sharing more excerpts from from Austin Meek and Chris Vannini’s excellent Michigan-Oklahoma preview over the next hour or so (really, you should just read the whole thing here) but I wanted to highlight this quote from Sooners coach Brent Venables contained in the piece, talking about Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood:
💬 “He’s a little different. He reminds me a lot of Trevor Lawrence: quick, decisive, accurate, poised, tough, consistent. There’s a reason he was the No. 1 player in America.”
The comparison to Lawrence jumps out, considering the context. Lawrence’s star has dimmed quite a bit given his struggles over the past couple of seasons with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. But it’s important to remember just how good he was at Clemson.
Lawrence’s dismantling of a loaded, Nick Saban-coached Alabama team in the 2018 national championship game remains one of the single most impressive college quarterbacking performances I’ve ever seen. It made him the No. 1 quarterback prospect on NFL draft boards for essentially two years straight. If not for a historically dominant LSU team led by another all-time great college quarterback in Joe Burrow, Lawrence may very well have two national championship rings.
You know who doesn’t need reminding of Lawrence’s greatness in college? Venables, the Clemson defensive coordinator while Lawrence was there. His unit had to go up against Lawrence every day in practice for three straight years. He saw Lawrence’s excellence as a true freshman up close in 2018 before just about everyone else got a chance to.
And now he’s saying he sees some of Lawrence in Bryce Underwood. High praise indeed.