Clemson LB Channels Babe Ruth During Tigers Rout of Stanford

CLEMSON – Jamal Anderson may not have worked himself into the rotation on Clemson’s defense just yet, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t contributing.

In fact, Anderson has contributed since his arrival at Clemson as a key member of the special teams unit, appearing in all 13 games during his freshman campaign.

In Saturday’s 40-14 win over Stanford, the sophomore linebacker made his presence, blocking a punt and then adding two tackles late in the contest when the Tigers started heavily substituting.

On this night, it was Anderson’s block early in the fourth quarter that stood out. Head coach Dabo Swinney noted that Anderson channeled his inner Babe Ruth, who famously called his shot on a home run for the New York Yankees.

“He called it, he called it,” Swinney said. “He said ‘I’m going to block it’ and he did. Babe Ruth. He called his shot.”

Before the 4th and 18 play, Anderson told coaches and teammates he was going to block the punt.

“He got it done,” Swinney added. “He literally said ‘I can get it.'”

Anderson was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school, with ESPN ranking him No. 128 overall and No. 12 among all linebackers. While he is not developed to the point to where he is ready to play every down at one of the linebacker spots, Swinney fully believes that day is coming. Until then, expect him to keep on shining as part of the Tigers’ special teams.

“He is a war daddy for us on special teams,” Swinney said. “He is a core guy. Just a savvy, savvy instinctive player on special teams. If he will keep developing as a linebacker you will eventually see that play out there too.”

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