That was a very hard hit he took and I wouldn't be shocked if he has broken ribs.
If he can throw 6 TD passes against what is supposed to be one of the best defenses in the country, with a broken rib, it's scary to think what he can do healthy.
So much irony. The Big Ten initially cancelled their entire season because of C19. When they finally changed their mind, the teams got off to a late start, and adding to that cancellations because of positive tests, OSU didn’t play enough games to qualify for the Big Ten championship. The conference had to change the rules to let them play, which they had to do to have a chance for the BCS. If they win the national championship—I wouldn’t bet they’d beat Bama, but who knows?—I guess they’d have played the fewest games for a champion since before WWII, if not ever.
This was only the second game Clemson lost with Lawrence as starter. But other great players have had a worse ending to their college careers. John Elway—who may be the best comp to Lawrence—didn’t even get to play in a bowl game in his final year (or in fact any year), because Stanford finished with a losing record. All they had to do to have a winning record, and get invited to some bowl, was win their last game at Cal. They had the game locked up with a field goal on what should have been the last play. But coach Paul Wiggin stopped the clock just four seconds too early, so after the FG, Stanford had to kick off to Cal. On what may yet stand as the most remarkable TD in history, Cal, lateraled its way down the field, with players having to avoid Stanford Band members, who had already flooded the field in anticipation of victory, and ran back the KO for a TD. It took a couple of minutes for it to sink in to anyone that Cal had won the game, and that Elway's college career was over.
Stanford with Elway was one of the most inconsistent teams of all time. They were capable of playing far over their heads. They beat Ohio State, in Columbus. They took the lead over Arizona State, which won its first nine games and eventually would rank as high as no. 3 in the country, with less than a minute left, but gave up a game winning TD in the final ten seconds. It never would have happened if a Stanford DB hadn't dropped a sure interception on ASU's final drive. Stanford beat Washington, at the time ranked no. 2 in the country. They lost by a FG to UCLA, which would go on to win the Rose Bowl, and rank in the top 5. But they lost to several unranked teams, including San Jose State, coached by Elway's father and agent.
Elway was the consensus no. 1 draft choice, but didn't win the Heisman Trophy. In fact, he only tied for Player of the Year in his own conference, with UCLA QB Tom Ramsey, whom I'm sure no one has ever heard of.
Much like Lawrence, who despite being a certain no. 1, didn't even make the Heisman finalists. There isn't a GM in the NFL who would take any of the four finalists, as good as they are, ahead of Lawrence. Peyton Manning was another generational talent who didn't win the Heisman. Still another was Andrew Luck. A lot of Heisman winners are picked no. 1--the last three, for starters--but arguably the four best QB prospects in the past 40 years have all failed to win that award.
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