MOBILE, Ala. – "I'm not going to miss that game."

That is the impact a rivalry game can have on the mindset of any competitor.  But for University of South Alabama senior safety Nigel Lawrence, it's not that simple.

Because less than a month ago, he was being helped off the field by the sports medicine staff just before halftime of the Jaguars' game at Appalachian State, unable to put any weight on his right knee.

"I was scared, I never felt like that before," he recalled.  "I really believed I blew my knee out, I couldn't do anything.  I was in shock.  They took me back for an X-ray and they said my ACL was intact, they told me it was just a strain and not a tear.  But I wouldn't know for sure until I had the MRI done.

"It was hard because I couldn't walk, I was thinking that it was torn and that I was done for the year."

"The first thing that runs through your mind is that we just lost our leader back there," said Matt Kitchens, in his first year as South's safeties coach.  "But to be honest, I was more concerned about Nigel's injury being serious enough that it might affect him for the rest of his life, because you never know."

The magnetic resonance imaging scan was completed the following Monday after the team returned from Boone, and the results confirmed what the medical staff said to Lawrence in the locker room; the ligament was just strained, it would be possible for him to return before the end of the season.  A steady schedule of rehabilitation exercises, applying ice to the knee and rest over the last few weeks — "That was all I could really do," he explained — now has the Smiths Station, Ala., native in a position to possibly contribute when South plays host to rival Troy in the annual "Battle For The Belt."

"It actually feels really good, I'm really close to playing.  But we'll have to see," Lawrence said.


Participants on both sides of a rivalry game are used to the focus and intensity that goes with taking on your adversary, with the escalation of emotions as the date of the contest grows near.  The results of one year linger, creating anticipation for the next matchup in the series.

Two years ago, Troy came into Ladd-Peebles Stadium and with 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter walked out with a 28-21 victory.  Last fall, the Jaguars returned the favor by defeating the Trojans — coming off a victory at No. 25 Louisiana State — 19-8 in Troy, not allowing a score until just over six minutes were left in the game.

"I remember it was October of my sophomore year when they beat us at home," Lawrence said.  "For me, last year was a redemption game.  I marked that game on my calendar, I was counting down the days.

"I still count down days before we play them."

Sometimes there is an added twist that elevates the matchup to an even higher level of importance to some of the players involved.  In the case of Lawrence, that comes from home.

That's because his father, Illya, was a linebacker at Troy from 1992-94.  But Lawrence downplays the intensity of the rivalry between the two — for now — saying, "My dad and I don't talk trash about each other's school.  He says he's a Jag now.  But I know there will be years later on when I'm done playing that there will be some trash talking."

Perhaps the reason playing Troy takes on such importance to Lawrence is because the Trojans were one of the programs who heavily recruited the now 5-foot-11, 205-pound defensive back out of Smiths Station High School.

"The summer before my senior year I was getting a bunch of scholarship offers, they were filling up on commitments and they wanted me to commit or they were going to pull my scholarship," he said.  "It was a hard decision for me because I felt that Troy was in my blood.  I went to most of Troy's home games and I knew the coaches at the time, but I realized during my senior year that I wasn't going to school there.  When I knew that in my mind, I wanted to play them every year so I came to South."


Lawrence's path to Mobile began long before he was recruited by either South Alabama or Troy.  It started as a four-year-old when he first played both quarterback and safety on a team with his friends coached by his father that competed in a league in Columbus, Ga.

"We stayed together and played in that league until we were all 13," he recalled.  "We were dominant, it was good.  Those were some of the best times I've had in football, I think about those times when things get hard; it reminds me to have fun."

Around that same time, Lawrence also was playing baseball.  In the fall when he was 10 years old, he opted to compete solely on the diamond rather than the football field, but it didn't take long to realize he didn't like the decision he had made.  "I thought that I can't stop playing football.  I tried to join a team midseason, but I couldn't so I had to stick it out playing baseball," he explained.

Lawrence continued to excel in both sports in high school, posting 217 total tackles, four interceptions and 20 passes broken up during his Panther career while helping SSHS to the state 7A championship his final year in baseball.  Not only was he all-state in both — earning second-team honors in football after recording 91 stops, five passes defensed and two interceptions his final fall — Lawrence was rated a three-star recruit and among the top 35 prospects in the state by 247Sports.com.

The original plan was to play both at South, with the focus first on football and trying to find a role on the team that would provide immediate playing time.

"When I came in I felt like I was going to play and that I wasn't going to redshirt, I've always had that confidence," he said.  "I was ready to get into camp just to show them what I could do, and I had my opportunity because of injuries."

Once he arrived, Lawrence was able to quickly get past the initial shock most freshmen experience their first few days at a higher level of competition.  Although he does recall having at least one eye-opening experience once he got on the practice field.  "I am pretty sure I had a moment like that because the dudes were so much bigger than I was as a freshman, I was scrawny; I weighed about 170 pounds at the time, that wasn't any fun."

Still, he was able to find his way onto the field in eight contests that fall, making his first career start against North Carolina State.  As a sophomore, Lawrence was credited with 53 stops, starting nearly half of the Jaguars' games as they earned an invitation to the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl, and last year he was an honorable mention all-Sun Belt Conference selection after posting 83 tackles and breaking up three passes.

At the time of his injury this season, he led the league having already accumulated 48 stops in the Jags' first five games.

"Nigel is a very smart, instinctive football player, he is a student of the game who picks things up really fast," observed first-year South head coach Steve Campbell.  "He has good speed, he can run and hit, he has a lot of tangible qualities you look for in a football player. But the intangibles are that he has a high football IQ and really enjoys playing the game, I think that's what separates him."

When he looks back on his development since coming to Mobile, Lawrence credits others for the improvements he has made.

"I've grown so much in so many different aspects just because of the people who have been here, all the different players and coaches," he explained.  "Mentally, I know so much more about alignment, formations and tendencies.  I never really worried about that in high school, I was just playing off raw athleticism."

One area that has been key this fall is his work behind the scenes.

"I had a leadership role in high school, but not as big as it is now," Lawrence observed.  "Now I try to talk to everyone and build team chemistry, I want to be someone who the guys can look up to and say I showed them the ropes and taught them different things.  I've grown tremendously in that aspect because I've learned from so many different leaders that we've had.

"Of course I still talk to Jeremy [Reaves] about a lot of stuff, we talk all the time.  I still talk to Devon [Earl], he helped me with a lot of different things.  Antonio [Carter] helped me a lot because we were basically from the same area."

"Nigel's leadership comes from his football IQ and the way he works at the game," explained Kitchens.  "He is the guy I'm going to lean on to make the calls and get us in the right spots and coverage.  Nigel played a lot of downs before we got here, the amount of reps he has in a college football game is something you can't take away.  The more reps you have, the more your leadership skills, confidence and game develop.  Having not met Nigel until December, I know that playing games the last three years has been instrumental in getting him where he is right now."


What does the future hold for Lawrence, other than his hope to participate in tonight's contest?  That might be tied into one of his initial reasons for coming to South, the ability to play two sports.

"When I came here that's what I wanted to do, I wanted to play both sports in college and South said they would let me," he said.  "After my freshman season I went home, as soon as I came back we started baseball practice; I was doing football workouts in the morning, going to class and then I had baseball at 2 p.m.  When I came home I was tired.  I did that until they decided to redshirt me, so then I focused on spring football.  My next year I got hurt and had to have surgery so I couldn't play baseball, then I had a good junior year and knew that I couldn't pass on the spring, especially with new coaches.

"But I do still have this spring and another year of eligibility in baseball, I'm keeping that in my back pocket."

That's an option, but not the ultimate goal.  "Hopefully I just get a chance to keep playing football, ideally at the highest level but I am willing to work my way up if I have to. That's really my only wish."

A leisure studies major who is on track to graduate in May, Lawrence is certain at this time that even when he is no longer competing he would like to remain in the sports industry.

"I really don't have a certain thing I want to do, my major is so broad I can do anything in the sports field," he explained.  "I can be an agent, I can work for a team, I can work with facilities, I can be an investor.  That's going to come to me over time as I pick up different interests outside of sports.

"This year I had a sports finance class and learned a lot about investing.  We've talked a lot about guys who get into professional sports and waste their money, we've discussed how to invest in mutual funds.  I like that."

But first, there are goals to be met on the field.  Ones that if reached will help cement his legacy in the program, which is something Lawrence and his teammates often ponder.

"I think about that a lot, Malcolm [Buggs] and I talk about that all the time," said Lawrence.  "The safety room has had some pretty good players come through here, I would like to be a part of that.  I want to have something here for this team whether it's the first Sun Belt championship or bowl win.  We've gone to our first bowl game, but I want something better, I want to leave something here that we'll be the first to have done."

To accomplish that, Lawrence will have to find his way back to action.  Something he is inspired by South's annual rivalry game to do tonight.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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