Etienne, not Lawrence, kicks off Heisman campaign
The 79,118 fans piled into Memorial Stadium in Thursday’s season opener for Georgia Tech and Clemson to see the strong-armed, long-haired quarterback in orange.
You could even buy a blond, flowing wig with a headband on the Internet and wear it to the game. That head gear looked like one of those cheesy Heisman Trophy campaign props that schools used to mail to media members.
By the middle of the third quarter, though, it wasn’t super sophomore Trevor Lawrence who had put together a Heisman-esque performance against the Yellow Jackets.
It was the small-town Louisiana kid who typically shies away from attention.
Travis Etienne’s career-rushing night of 205 yards on 12 carries and a trio of touchdowns helped boost the Tigers to an easy 52-14 victory Thursday.
The junior moved into the top 10 all-time in career rushing yards at Clemson, and a 90-yard scoring scamper in the first quarter tied for the longest run in school history.
His impressive night even came after a difficult start. Etienne had negative-2 yards on his first two carries and turned the ball over via a fumble on Clemson’s third drive of the game.
“Really proud of him bouncing back,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “He’s the guy we’re going to go to in a situation like that, so it’s on to the next play. Don’t let a bad play beat you twice.”
He didn’t.
On his big 90-yard run, he was sprung by an athletic block from offensive lineman Jackson Carman before splitting two defenders to take it to the house, reminiscent of former Clemson great C.J. Spiller.
“We’ve had some great players roll through here,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Spiller and Etienne are kind of in a group by themselves simply because there’s not many people who can just take one 90 (yards). Travis is a different-style player (than Spiller). He’s more powerful. He’s bigger. But he’s got that same ‘hold your hat’ (ability).”
On his 48-yard TD, Etienne used a quick stutter step and then hit the sideline, outrunning multiple GT defenders in a sprint to the end zone. He added a 14-yard score as well to give him 40 career rushing touchdowns.
Etienne averaged 17.1 yards per rush, which is only topped by his 19.1 average on just eight carries against Louisville last season.
“He settled in and had an unbelievable game,” Swinney said. “He was patient, set his runs up.”
It was Etienne, not Lawrence, who got a leg up on the competition for the greatest individual award in college football.
However, it was Lawrence who entered Week 1 tied atop the Heisman Trophy Award odds list at 3-to-1 with Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa, according to Westgate Las Vegas Sportsbook.
Etienne, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, ranked 11th, behind Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor, at 40-to-1 odds.
But Etienne, a finalist for last year’s Doak Walker Award, got an early leg up on everybody Thursday night, including Lawrence.
The Clemson QB wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t especially sharp either. Lawrence averaged a pedestrian 7.3 yards per pass attempt and threw two interceptions. He had four all of last year.
His 168 passing yards and two total touchdowns likely won’t make Week 1 “best” lists or help his Heisman odds, but he’ll certainly have much better games ahead.
Etienne will also get more chances to build off his fast start. A year after rushing for a single-season school record 1,658 yards, scoring 26 touchdowns and averaging an impressive 8.1 yards per carry, Etienne deserves more Heisman hype.
Just like the spotlight that comes with that, it’s not something Etienne is necessarily seeking.
“It’s the first game of the season,” Etienne said. “Just being mentioned for the award is crazy to me. It’s kind of unbelievable at times.”
If Etienne keeps this up, though, he’ll get a lot more than just a mention.
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 7:21 AM.