Clemson’s Tre Lamar showed off his versatility in win over Georgia Tech

Clemson sophomore Tre Lamar played the best game of his young career Saturday night against Georgia Tech.

The Georgia native recorded a career high 11 tackles as the Tigers shut down Georgia Tech’s triple option offense in the 24-10 victory.

Lamar showed off his versatility in the win, playing his normal middle linebacker spot for much of the game but also playing an outside linebacker role and standing up at the line of scrimmage.

Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables spent the bye week experimenting with Lamar playing at the line of scrimmage and was pleased with the results.

“We worked him at both this week and he did a great job. That’s very hard for all the things we do on defense scheme-wise and then the variety of things that are drastically different if you’re playing d-end or linebacker,” Venables said. “I thought he really had an outstanding two weeks of prep and gave us some good depth there at d-end for this game… He really did well.”

In addition to leading Clemson in tackles, Lamar also led the Tigers in sacks with two.

He said he felt comfortable on the field no matter where he was lining up.

“Over the two weeks of practice I kind of got used to it and felt it out. It was good,” Lamar said. “I was open to it. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help the team and so it was a different experience for me, but I enjoyed it.”

Linebacker Dorian O’Daniel, who has earned the reputation of being a Yellow Jackets killer for his play in previous games, could not have been happier for Lamar’s success.

“I am really proud of Tre,” O’Daniel said. “They had him kind of in the trenches a little bit as well as linebacker. He had a workload during the week, but that is a compliment to his preparation. He prepared very well and that showed up on Saturday.”