Tamarion McDonald: DB · Louisville · #12.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Tamarion McDonald
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. The five seasons span two programs and three head coaches: Jeremy Pruitt, Josh Heupel and Jeff Brohm. On tape: 9 tackles against Miami, Week 8, 2024.
Play style
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
58 tackles. 1 pass defended. 1 interception. 3.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Louisville | 58 | 39 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | Tennessee | 40 | 23 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2022 | Tennessee | 50 | 34 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 |
| 2021 | Tennessee | 9 | 8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | Tennessee | 11 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 168 | 109 | 12.0 | 3.0 | 14 | 5 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 62-0vs Austin Peay | 3 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 2 | W 49-14vs Jacksonville State | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 31-19vs Georgia Tech | 7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 24-31@ No. 16 Notre Dame | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 27-34vs SMU | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 24-20@ Virginia | 9 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 8 | L 45-52vs No. 6 Miami | 9 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 31-27@ Boston College | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 33-21@ No. 11 Clemson | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 35-38@ Stanford | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 37-9vs Pittsburgh | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 41-14@ Kentucky | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 35-34vs Washington | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 58 | 39 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 |
Week 1 · 2024
W 62-0
vs Austin Peay
2 sacks · 2 tackles for loss · 3 tackles
Dominant 62-point win at home against Austin Peay.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
2%1 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
58tackles this seasonTFL rate
6%4 TFL58 tackles · 3.5 for loss · 2 sacks · 1 pass breakup · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 4.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Road6g | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 4.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jeff Brohm
Pass share
50.5%
426 pass / 417 run
Plays / game
64.8
13 games
Team sack rate
3.0%
436 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2024
58 tackles in 13 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #175 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons, at Tennessee and Louisville, 168 tackles — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 47 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2024
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Jeremy Pruitt, Josh Heupel and Jeff Brohm.
