Trevor Lawrence is hurt, and now Dabo Swinney is in a tough spot

Dabo Swinney knew Kelly Bryant’s decision to transfer left Clemson thin at quarterback, but Trevor Lawrence’s injury makes that nightmare a reality.

Trevor Lawrence is a very talented quarterback, but he’s not invincible. His injury in the second quarter of Clemson’s home game against Boston College throws the Tigers’ season in jeopardy.

It’s hard to imagine a bigger injury coming at a worse time for Dabo Swinney’s program. Lawrence was just named the starter last week which resulted in Kelly Bryant deciding to transfer out of the program. That forced the coaching staff to go with redshirt freshman Chase Brice to end the half. That’s pretty close to a nightmare scenario for the Tigers.

Lawrence’s injury occurred right on the sideline when he tried to cut back inside to avoid going out-of-bounds. Ironically, he’d already stepped out before he was blasted by a Syracuse defender. In fairness to the Orange, Lawrence did lower his head before he was hit just in front of the Syracuse bench. The talented signal caller immediately was taken to the injury tent and subsequently was taken to the Clemson locker room for more testing.

If Lawrence can’t come back into this game, it could be a real problem for the Tigers. They still have enough talent to defeat Syracuse, but they did head to the locker room trailing 16-7. That’s a big deficit to throw on Rice’s shoulders.

Even if Clemson does manage to comeback and beat the Orange, it’s tough to imagine them winning the ACC without Lawrence to lead the offense. There’s a lot of talent on the Tigers’ defense, but they will need to score points to establish themselves as legitimate College Football Playoff contenders.

It may be a little too early for Clemson fans to panic, but if Lawrence is forced to miss significant time there will be a lot of reason for concern in Tiger Town. The fan base faces a nervous wait until they learn the full diagnosis for their freshman sensation.