ATHENS — For Kamari Lassiter to thrive in the way he did on Saturday against, someone in the Georgia secondary was going to have make a sacrifice.

That someone was Tykee Smith. When Lassiter moved into the star position of Georgia’s defense, Smith would either sub out or move into a dime linebacker role for Georgia’s defense.

The senior defensive back didn’t complain or pout. In fact he played a strong game, leading Georgia in tackles and picking up a key sack.

“Me, Javon, Malaki, Kamari all met for an early meeting on Monday or something like that,” Smith said. “They just talked about putting in a new package with him moving to star at that package. We talk about mission, team, me, so I wasn’t really worried about my role this week. This game probably wasn’t necessarily for me with how I expected to be used but I think Kamari played extremely well.”

Lassiter’s excellence was a big reason Georgia was able to limit Luther Burden and the Missouri passing offense. After Burden hauled in a 39-yard touchdown on the opening drive, the star wide receiver had only two more catches for just 14 yards.

Georgia crosstrains its defensive backs during the offseason and Lassiter had worked at the star position as a freshman. But prior to the win over Missouri, Lassiter had been exclusively working as an outside cornerback.

Smith understands better than anyone the difficulties of playing the star position. He’s thrived in the role this season, coming away with 4 interceptions while wearing a variety of hats for the Georgia defense. He also leads the team in tackles for loss.

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