Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence Consumed With Winning

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence isn't just fine with coming out of games early. It's actually his goal because winning, not stats, matter most.

Trevor Lawrence doesn't care to spend much time thinking or talking about the Heisman Trophy, even though the Clemson quarterback is the current frontrunner.

That's consistent with his character and how the coaches have described him for years. The junior signal-caller for the No. 1 team in college football still wanted to make it clear, though, what he is about when it comes to football. 

"I just want to win," Lawrence said. "That's been my thing ever since I've been here. It's true. I don't just say that because it sounds good." 

Lawrence realizes that he'd rather play an "OK game" and come out with a victory than to play really well and lose the game. 

"That's just how I've been. That's how I've been brought up, teams I've been on," Lawrence said. "I've been fortunate to be on a lot of teams that have won a lot of games. So when you lose one definitely hate that feeling, hate losing, so that's why my main focus is winning."

Lawrence admitted he didn't play well or win in Clemson's last game of the 2019 season when the Tigers lost to LSU in the national championship game. Lawrence suffered the first loss of his collegiate career and had the lowest completion percentage yet. 

He's rebounded well so far in 2020 and has tossed 10 touchdowns with four more rushing scores added to his stats. But numbers are not what Lawrence, who's 29-1 as a starting QB, plays for. That's also one of the obstacles for him winning the Heisman because of how often he comes out of games early with his team up big. 

That's not something that bothers Clemson's quarterback, who will likely be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. It's actually the goal. 

"I know that the way we operate here at Clemson is Coach (Dabo) Swinney does a great job of making sure that we build our depth," Lawrence said. "I just love when other guys get opportunities to play, so my goal is to get in there and take care of business and the whole offense take care of business so those other guys can get in play. We're not looking to pad stats to make ourselves look better than we are. 

"We're just into winning games and play the best we can."