Tre Lamar focused after "upsetting" experience watching Sugar Bowl from the sidelines

Barring the results of a B sample lifting the suspensions of Braden Galloway, Zach Giella, and Dexter Lawrence, the three will not play in the Cotton Bowl and may not be eligible to play in 2019.

Saturday won’t be the first time Clemson would have to make do in the College Football Playoff Seminfinals without one of its premier defenders.

Linebacker Tre Lamar wanted to play in last year’s Sugar Bowl against Alabama, but was held out for the entire game due to the coaching staff not wanting to risk any further injury after he suffered a stinger against Florida State that decided to linger.

So Lamar had to end his season the way he didn’t want to - on a sideline in New Orleans watching Clemson fall 24-6 to the Crimson Tide. Last spring, Lamar described the overall situation as “frustrating.”

According to Lamar, There was a period where he couldn’t feel anything in his right arm because of the nerve damage that had been infected due to the stinger. After playing in 10 of Clemson’s 14 games (starting in 8), Lamar got back to work and was eager to improve as one of the elite returning linebackers on Clemson’s defense.

This season, the junior has started in all but one of Clemson’s 12 games and has been a vital part in Clemson’s defensive success. He enters the Cotton Bowl with 74 tackles, three sacks, and an interception with 450 snaps played.

His performance earned him second-team All-ACC honors and he was a Butkus Award finalist for the nation’s top linebacker.

The only game Lamar sat out was against in-state rival South Carolina where he was resting an ankle injury. We saw how vital he is to Clemson’s defense as Brent Venables’ unit gave up over 500 yards passing and five passing touchdowns to the Gamecocks.

Lamar said recently that his ankle is feeling good.

“I felt like I played really well on it during the last game in the ACC Championship,” Lamar said at Clemson’s media day on campus on Dec. 18th. “I think having this time off is going to give me some time to kind of heal up and come into the game as healthy as I can.”

He returned in a dominant fashion against Pittsburgh in the ACC Championship, finishing tied for a team-high nine tackles, two of which were for a loss, and a sack.

Going into this year’s semifinal, Lamar has no interest in thinking about what could have been a year ago.

“It was upsetting. You always want to get out there and play with your teammates but it just wasn’t meant to be,” Lamar said. “I’m not really worried about last year. I’m more about this year… Just focused on Notre Dame right now.”

Clemson is 13-0 for the second time in school history and has reached the Playoff four years in a row. This type of consistent success doesn’t come easy and is rare to find. While getting the chance to shine on the big stage, Lamar promises not to take the moments he’ll have playing in Dallas for granted.

“A lot of teams don’t get to do this kind of thing,” Lamar added. “Just the comradery that you have with your teammates knowing that you’ve worked for this and you kind of made it to your spot that not a lot teams make it to is really exciting for everybody. A place where you make a lot of memories and look back on years after you are done playing football.”