Jaguars' QB Trevor Lawrence Expects To Win and Dabo Swinney Shares How He Knows It'll Happen

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has been a proven winner. He boasts a 34-2 record as a starter during this three years as a Clemson Tiger, and lost only two games as a high schooler as well. The Heisman runner up has never lost a regular season game and defeated the vaulted Alabama Crimson Tide and Nick Saban as a mere freshman.

As such, there are ample examples of Lawrence taking over a game. But it’s a run, juke and score that his Clemson coach Dabo Swinney cites as one of the best examples of all that Trevor Lawrence epitomizes.

Speaking with local Jacksonville media after the Jaguars selected Lawrence with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Swinney recalled a moment in the Tigers loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff game, and what ultimately became Lawrence’s last game in Jacksonville.

“He gets knocked out of the game of play, and he comes back and I mean literally just you know, a couple moments later he rips off about a 50-60 yard run. And so, you just saw his toughness and his competitiveness.”

The run was actually 67-yards, using one run to surpass his career high for rushing yards in a single game. Lawrence has always been known for his pocket awareness and accuracy. His size—at 6-6, 230—means he hasn’t been afraid to leave the pocket and go on the move, but he’s not necessarily a duel-threat, at least on paper. But his wheels versus the Buckeyes exhibited not only speed but jukes, shimmies and vision.

TREVOR LAWRENCE TURNS ON THE BURNERS #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/x5FrKRjYqt
— ESPN (@espn) December 29, 2019

The Tigers—who were down 23-0 at one point—pulled within two a minute before halftime thanks to Lawrence’s touchdown. They would go on to win the game and face the LSU Tigers in the National Championship.

While Clemson would fall to the undefeated and historic LSU team (and last year’s No. 1 pick, quarterback Joe Burrow), it was their second trip in a row to the game. As a freshman, Lawrence led the Tigers to a trophy with a win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in what can only be described as a 44-16 shellacking. To Swinney, the young star’s unwavering confidence in that moment is what will also help him transition to the NFL.

“Alabama was 14 and [zero], we were 14 and [zero]; they had a veteran quarterback (Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa) and we had this true freshmen and the narrative was, you know, ‘How's this guy going to handle this type of spotlight.’ And he was unbelievable. You know, we win that game. So I think that that bodes well for what's coming next for the Jaguar fan base as far as his ability to handle the stage to make the transition to compete against the best of the best.”

In that game, Lawrence shredded a Nick Saban defense to the tune of 20-32 for 347 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. He added 27 yards on six rushes. The Alabama coach couldn't help but praise the phenom after the game, calling him a "special talent."

All of that, according to Swinney, adds up to not only an adjective for Lawrence, but an embodiment of who he is as a player.

“He's a winner. As I said earlier, he's the winningest quarterback in history of the school. I think he lost two games in high school to earn his college career. So he's just a winner, and he's the same guy, day in and day out…that’s a couple of moments that I think can excite the Jaguar fan base.”

For someone who has always been a winner, going to a league where .500 is considered a decent year, it can be a tough mindset change. But according to Lawrence, the easiest way to make the jump is simply to not change the mindset at all.

“I'm bringing the same mindset,” explained Lawrence to local Jacksonville media after being selected. “Obviously it's different. You're not playing the same competition and you're playing the best of the best week in, week out; but I think that mindset is still important. You still got to expect to win, you still got to prepare the same way.

"I don't know what the point is if you don't expect to win every week so I'm going to bring that same mindset. Obviously it's going to be more challenging, just the nature of the beast, you're playing against the best every week so I know it's gonna be more challenging, but I think for me it’s more so keeping that same mindset instead of adjusting.”