Ohio State football: Justin Fields looks to finally one-up Trevor Lawrence

Just 20 miles separate Justin Fields’ hometown of Kennesaw, Georgia, and Trevor Lawrence’s hometown of Cartersville. Both quarterbacks were in the class of 2018 and spent their high school careers being compared to each other. Lawrence was always mentioned first and has won their only head-to-head meeting. It’s time for Justin Fields to finally get the upper-hand on Lawrence.

Rewind to the high school days for Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence. They were not just the two best players in the state of Georgia, but the two best in the entire country. Lawrence was in his early years of high school when he started to get offers from multiple power-five schools, Fields had not yet received any offers, and always had a chip on his shoulder as a result.

By the end of his high school career, Trevor Lawrence had become a five-star player with a near-perfect rating of .9999, according to 247Sports. He committed to Clemson, choosing the Tigers over LSU and Georgia.

Georgia missed out on landing the highest-rated quarterback in the class but landed the next-highest. Insert Justin Fields. Justin trailed Lawrence in the recruiting rankings by a microscopic amount, as he stood with a .9998 rating, according to 247Sports. After committing and later-on de-committing from Penn State, Fields decided to stay in his home-state and committed to the University of Georgia.

Fields was ranked as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the country and many Bulldogs fans were hoping to see him start over incumbent QB Jake Fromm. In the 2018 season, Fields saw limited playing time as a true-freshman, really only coming in when games were out-of-hand.

While Fields was primarily riding the bench at Georgia, Trevor Lawrence was already becoming a household name at Clemson. Kelly Bryant was Clemson’s starting QB for the first four games of the 2018 season, but Lawrence saw equal playing time, and eventually took over the starting job in the fifth game of the season against Syracuse.

Trevor and the Tigers never looked back. The next day Bryant entered his name in the transfer portal, and Trevor Lawrence went on to lead his team to a National Championship as a true freshman.

Following the 2018 season, Justin Fields was trying to figure out what was best for him. Should he stay at Georgia and try to compete for the starting job, even though the coaching staff rarely gave him any playing time to prove himself? Or should he transfer? All of these thoughts ran through his head, all while Trevor Lawrence was celebrating a National Championship.

Dwayne Haskins had one of the best seasons in college football history in 2018 and entered his name in the NFL Draft after starting just one year for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The starting job was now up-for-grabs in Columbus. Justin Fields would transfer to Ohio State and easily win the starting job over Tate Martell, who eventually transferred as well.

Fields was entering a new environment. He didn’t know anyone at Ohio State, he was several hours away from home. He had to step out of his comfort zone, in hopes of becoming a starting quarterback for a big-time college football program.

The 2019 season was spectacular for Justin Fields. He picked up on Ryan Day‘s playbook quickly, found his favorite receiver in Chris Olave, and had great success. Fields would go to New York as a Heisman Finalist and led the Buckeyes to a perfect 13-0 season entering the College Football Playoff.

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes believed they deserved the No. 1 seed going into the four-team playoff. It was former-Buckeye Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers who won the No. 1 seed, however, and the Buckeyes fell to the No. 2 spot. That would set up a meeting with the No. 3 Clemson Tigers. Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence would finally play each other.

Despite it being just a 25-minute drive on I-75, the two five-star quarterbacks never played each other in high school, making the Fiesta Bowl their first head-to-head meeting. “It’s funny we have to come across the country to finally play each other” Trevor Lawrence said at the 2019 Fiesta Bowl Media Day.

Despite a career-high in passing yards for Fields, it was Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers who came back from a 17-point deficit to win the game, 29-23. Fields would throw an interception in the end zone near on the Bucks’ final drive to seal the game for Clemson.

Justin Fields now has a chance to finally one-up Trevor Lawrence for the first time. From receiving scholarship offers later than Lawrence, to being rated lower than him in the recruiting rankings, to not playing in as many games to start their careers, to losing to him in the Playoff, Justin Fields can finally get the upper-hand.

Ohio State’s Wyatt Davis says that Fields has had a different look in his eye this whole week. He is undoubtedly hungry to avenge his only loss as a starting QB. “For this game, I’ve been preparing my butt off,” said Fields “I haven’t prepared like this the whole season.” This game means so much more to Justin Fields, a lot is on the line. Can he out-perform someone he has always been compared to? Can he lead his team to a National Championship?

Ohio State and Clemson will kick off at 8 PM ET on New Year’s Day in the 2021 Sugar Bowl from New Orleans, LA. The game will be televised on ESPN.