Miami football and Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence versus common opponents

The Miami football team and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence have played four common opponents since 2018.

The Miami football team will play its biggest game in three years at Clemson on Saturday. The seventh-ranked Hurricanes will play number the top-ranked Tigers. That was the exact same rankings when Miami and Clemson played in the 2017 ACC Championship Game. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence was a senior in high school.

The Clemson and Miami football teams have not played a common opponent in 2020. Clemson has played ACC games against Wake Forest and Virginia this season. Miami has played Louisville and Florida State. Clemson will play Florida State later this season and Miami plays UVA and Wake Forest.

The ACC eliminated the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions for the 2020 season. Clemson is in the Atlantic with Florida State, Louisville and Wake Forest. Miami is in the Coastal with Virginia. The Hurricanes play Virginia and Wake Forest in 2020. In 2018 Clemson and Miami had Boston College and Florida State as common opponents.

Miami is at a decided disadvantage comparing the QB play they have received the last two seasons with common opponents as Lawrence. N’Kosi Perry led Miami to a comeback from 27-7 down against Florida State in 2018. Perry was 13-32 for 204 yards and four touchdowns in the 27-7 Miami victory over FSU.

Clemson played Florida State three weeks after Miami in 2018. Lawrence went 20-37 for 314 yards and four TDs as the Tigers throttled the Tigers 59-10. Miami lost 27-14 at Boston College in 2018. The Hurricanes shuffled between Perry and senior Malik Rosier all season. Rosier was 19-36 for 150 yards one TD and one interception.

Rosier helped the Miami offense by running 14 times for 71 yards. In 2019, Clemson and Miami both played Florida State and Louisville in back to back weeks. The Tigers played the Cardinals and Seminoles in October, Miami played them in November. Lawrence was 17-25 for 170 yards, three TDs and one interception against FSU.

The Tigers defeated the Seminoles 45-14. Lawrence also ran six times for 40 yards and another TD. Miami had a similarly dominant performance against Florida State. The story in the 27-10 Miami victory over Florida State in 2019 was the Miami defense recording nine sacks. Miami added a few deep TD passes.

Jarren Williams was the third quarterback the Miami football team played in as many games against common opponents with Clemson in 2018 and 2019. Williams was 21-37 for 313 yards and TD passes of 39 yards in the first quarter to Jeff Thomas and fourth quarter to Dee Wiggins that put Miami up 24-10.

Wiggins is back for his junior season in 2019 and added a 40-yard TD reception against Florida State in the Hurricanes 52-10 victory last week. Miami is going to need to continue making big plays against Clemson for the Hurricanes to pull the upset. Wiggins had an amazing two-game stretch against FSU and Louisville in 2019.

Williams had his best game against Louisville in 2019 in his one season as the primary Miami QB. The redshirt freshman was 15-22 for 253 yards and six TD passes in a 52-27 victory over the Cardinals. Wiggins caught three passes for 85 yards and TDs of 67 and 10 yards. Lawrence struggled slightly against Louisville in 2019.

Lawrence was 20-29 for 233 yards, three TDs and two interceptions and added 10 carries for 47 yards in the Tigers 45-10 victory over the Cardinals in 2019. Miami is going to need to continue to make the big plays on offense they did against Florida State and Louisville the last two seasons to compete with Clemson next week.

Getting pressure on Lawrence will be critical for the Hurricanes defense. In 2019 Miami had 27 sacks in wins and 19 in losses. The Clemson offensive line has been mediocre this season protecting Lawrence. Clemson is 39th allowing six sacks in their first three games. Miami has to continue to elevate their game to win.