ESPN analysts compare 'X-factor' of Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow

Tony Crumpton · Assoc. Editor · Wednesday, January 08 2020

ESPN personalities Greg McElroy, Ryan Leaf, and Desmond Howard during Wednesday's CFB title preview show compared the quarterback matchup of LSU's Joe Burrow and Clemson's Trevor Lawrence.

The analysts were asked which superstar quarterback has more of an x-factor for the title game.

"It's Trevor Lawrence," Leaf said. "No better example than in the national semifinal. He gets hammered in the head on the targeting play with Ohio State. His teammates over there watch their leader laying on the ground there, and the wind was taken out of their sails. I was standing right there, and then he gets up, he jogs off the field and the players on that sideline, it was something palpable because of the play we talked about he gets going, and he ran away from people."

Lawrence got better as the game got tougher against the Buckeyes.

"I mean it was a palpable feeling on the sideline, and that's something that shifted (momentum) because he used a great example the other day about when you get one of the first fights, and you can taste the blood in your mouth after you've been hitting the mouse for the first time. They all tasted that blood in their mouth, and something flipped because, in the next 3:55, they scored 14 points."

Howard and McElroy both picked Burrow as their x-factor in the upcoming title game.