Trevor Lawrence Reflects on Relationship with Justin Fields

Here's what this year's Heisman finalist had to say about last year's Heisman finalist as the two try to get their teams to a national championship game.

There are so many interesting individual matchups on the field in Friday's Ohio State-Clemson matchup that are worth diving into, especially when Clemson's offense is on the field and the Buckeyes will have to deal with their terrific speed.

But the most obvious and intriguing comparison in the College Football Playoff semifinal is between arguably the two best quarterbacks in the country, who won't be on the field at the same time at all, but will undoubtedly be the center of attention.

Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields have been linked to one another for a long time, dating back to their high school days before they blossomed into full-blown superstar quarterbacks. The two grew up roughly 30 minutes away from each other in northern Georgia and were highly recruited coming out of high school. Watching them play against each other again this week is one of our favorite storylines coming into the game.

Here's what Lawrence had to say about his relationship with Fields and comparisons between the two (watch the video of his comments above).

“It’s cool. As I’ve said before, it’s a small world," Lawrence said Tuesday. "He’s from right down the road from me, probably 20-30 minutes and just to be playing each other for the second time. We have kind of been matched up for years going back to high school. I haven’t really seen it as that [a competition]. We’re just out here [on the field]. We’re friends and we have a good relationship. 

"People like to pin it as that; just me against him. At the end of the day, it’s just fun getting the opportunity to play a team like Ohio State. Obviously, a huge brand, great team year in and year out and to get the opportunity to play them is what you’d expect in a [College Football Playoff] semifinal. We’re playing the best of the best so we’re excited for that opportunity. It does make it cooler that the guy on the other sideline is from right down the road from me. It’s pretty cool. We played them last year, and it was a crazy game. I’m definitely looking forward to it [the Sugar Bowl].”

Last year, Fields was a Heisman finalist. This year, Lawrence is up for the award. Fields has lost just one game as a starting quarterback in his college career - last year to Lawrence and the Tigers. Lawrence has also lost just once in three seasons as a starter, too. After winning the national title as a freshman, he lost last year's title game to LSU. Both players were at the forefront of the national #WeWantToPlay movement across college football as the Power 5 conferences grappled with the pandemic and how to handle their seasons.

Lawrence and Fields are expected to both be among the first names called in the upcoming NFL Draft, so one of the two is very likely playing his final college football game. This has all the makings of an incredible performance for both players.

The only question now for the Buckeyes - can they stop Lawrence from having a monster game?

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