Reflecting with Lawrence
Anthony Lawrence (middle) shaking hands with his teammates.
Thomas Christensen/The USD Vista
Torero quarterback takes a look back on his time at USD and his past accomplishments
Anderson Haigler / Sports Editor / The USD Vista
Anthony Lawrence isn’t shy about talking about it — the University of San Diego isn’t exactly where he originally envisioned his college football career taking place.
“You look at the campus and it’s beautiful; going to college here would be awesome,” Lawrence said, reflecting on his high school self. “But as far as football, I hadn’t really thought about playing football here. I kind of envisioned going to a big FBS school or a bigger FCS school.”
Five years and a USD-record 12,036 passing yards later, the redshirt senior quarterback is sure that he made the right choice.
“It’s been a ton of fun being able to be out here in San Diego, to be able to do it in front of my friends and family. The support I get from them, it’s been a blast. I really can’t believe where I’m at today.”
Though Lawrence hails from nearby La Mesa, Calif., his landing at USD was fortuitous for the Toreros, if not improbable.
“It wasn’t until my senior season that I really had USD as a legitimate possibility,” Lawrence said.
It would be a twist of fate — admittedly unfortunate for Lawrence at the time — that would lead to him playing for his hometown team.
“I took an official (visit) to Penn, and I talked to Yale a bunch,” Lawrence said. “But after my official (visit), they called me and said their other quarterback recruit de-committed from Iowa and committed to Penn, so that kinda bumped me from the spot. It was basically walk on at a couple schools or have a roster spot here, and I didn’t want to go through the walk-on process and get treated like crap and not really get an opportunity. So (USD) was pretty much it if I wanted a guaranteed spot on the team, a guaranteed opportunity.”
As anyone who has even casually followed USD’s football program over the last five years knows, Lawrence took the aforementioned opportunity and ran with it. His early days as a Torero, though, were not without their challenges. A redshirt first- year season tested Lawrence’s resolve, but perhaps prepared him for big things to come.
“You think you’re going to go out and play right away and keep doing your thing,” Lawrence said. “But when you first get here, you realize that these guys are dudes, like they’re good at playing football, they’re smart, they’re athletic. That humbling experience, I didn’t take it very well at first, I was pretty upset, obviously I wanted to get on the field, I wanted to play.”
But as the fourth-string USD quarterback at the beginning of his career, Lawrence had to stick with his decision to sit out in order to preserve and maximize his NCAA eligibility, the very playing time that had led him to come to USD in the first place.
“After about week four or five, when I kinda realized that I wasn’t going to play, I just kinda tried to take advantage of it, you know, work hard and put myself in a position to play next year,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence’s positive attitude and hard work paid off. When he began his college football career the following season, he burst upon the scene as a player who appeared nearly immediately ready to succeed, passing for 2,392 total yards and 23 touchdowns in his debut year at USD. Despite his early success, Lawrence says that he has continually matured as a quarterback since beginning his
time as a Torero.
“I would say decision-making, and the ability to remain calm when I’m on the field,” Lawrence said of the areas in which he has most improved. “My freshman year, I would get flustered sometimes in the pocket or whatever it may be, and now my decision-making and the game has kinda slowed down for me.”
Lawrence offered one specific moment from his first season that stood out among the rest, and perhaps contributed to his now- respected calm on-field demeanor.
“The first game I played in at SDSU at Qualcomm (Stadium) in front of 50,000 was awesome,” Lawrence said. “I remember I got lit up on one play and I was just onmybackandIlookupinthe stands and there’s people in the third deck.”
Though Lawrence is a humble as they come, his own work ethic and competitive drive that he mentioned is something that has both set him apart from his competition, and earned him the respect and admiration of both his teammates and coaches alike. If the 22-year-old is known for anything other than his prodigious passing talents, it’s for the fact that he is a notoriously hard worker and fiercely competitive player. These traits have not gone unnoticed by USD football head coach Dale Lindsey.
“The best thing about Anthony Lawrence is that whatever it is you ask him to do, he’ll do,” Lindsey said. “He’s gonna compete harder than the next guy, he’s gonna find a way to win. Anthony, when you go do something, drills, whatever on the field, shorts, any sort of practice, he wants to win — and does.”
To Lawrence himself, it’s simply a matter of quiet confidence, something that has never been in short supply for him.
“I have as much confidence as anyone in any sport,” Lawrence said. “If I go out and play basketball against Lebron, I think I’m gonna have a chance.”
This self-assuredness has not been without results for Lawrence. As his five-year collegiate career has unfolded, he has developed into the most prolific passer in both USD and Pioneer League (PFL) history; he is now the PFL’s all-time leader in career passing yards with 12,017, owns the USD football record for most career touchdowns with 113, and is USD’s all-time leader in career total offense with 12,061 yards. All of these stats in addition to 3,785 total passing yards this season with 35 touchdowns along the way have created a resume that stands alone amongst countless quarterbacks before him.
These eye-popping numbers may surprise some, but Lawrence says that he always knew he was capable of achieving this level of success.
“I definitely knew I could do it; I definitely had that confidence,” Lawrence said.
Having had such a charmed career thus far, Lawrence is thankful for the help he’s had along the way.
“Just being able to get the opportunity,” Lawrence said. “I understand that it’s hard to give a ‘short, un-athletic quarterback’ an opportunity, but I always knew I could do it, and I’m just so thankful that these coaches believed in me.”
Throughout his career, Lawrence has demonstrated a consistent ability to rise to the occasion in tough situations. He leads his team to an impressive variety of comeback victories both at home and on the road, in conference play and in non- conference play, and in the playoffs and during the regular season.
“I think one of my best traits is that I don’t think any play is too big for me, I don’t think a scenario is too big, I don’t think an environment’s too big for me,” Lawrence said.
His play over the last five years has certainly shown this. In his career at USD, Lawrence is 38-8 as a starter, 31-1 in conference play, and 21-0 at home, with three PFL
Championships and two playoffs wins to he and his teammates’ credit over that span. On Nov. 24 in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs, Lawrence and his teammates took on Nicholls State University in a win-or- go-home game that tested the veteran quarterback one final time. Although the Toreros lost 30-49 against Nicholls State, what is certain for Lawrence are the memories he’s made, and bonds he’s forged with his teammates along the way.
“I’m gonna miss the guys,” Lawrence said. “Just being able to go out there and compete in
everything. In lifts, in offseason conditioning, in the games, in practice is so fun. And then just the locker room, you know the guys, going through camp with them, going through meetings and walkthroughs with them, and going through travel trips where we don’t get back until one o’clock. It’s just so much fun.”
Perhaps above all else, Lawrence is grateful that he ended up here, because he was able to play in his hometown, in front of his friends and family.
“It’s meant everything,” Lawrence said. “If I went to Penn, my family might never have been able get to watch me play college football, and they’re not able to get to too many away games. So being able to be at home and have them be able to be at every other game, it’s really meant everything to be able to play in front of them.”
Though the Toreros did not maintain their streak of first-round wins in the playoffs like previous years, Lawrence held on to another title. For a second, consecutive season the veteran quarterback was named PFL Offensive Player of the Year. As of now, both Lawrence’s future and the teams’ in his absence are uncertain, but one thing is clear – Lawrence and his dedication to the sport will surely be missed at Torero Stadium.