Shane Beamer cites 'internal team matter' for Nick Emmanwori sitting second half of bowl game

South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori didn’t play in the second half of the Gamecocks’ 21-17 loss to Illinois in the Citrus Bowl. After the game, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer refused to discuss Emmanwori’s absence in the second half, claiming it was an “internal team matter.”

According to GamecockCentral’s Mike Uva, Emmanwori removed himself from the game after halftime. An anonymous South Carolina player provided Uva with further information on Emmanwori’s decision.

“I don’t know if Nick decided he wanted to do that before the game or if it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I didn’t know he was planning on doing that,” the unnamed player said. “You see what happened in Miami with their quarterback. They knew before the game that he wasn’t gonna play in the second half. That wasn’t the case with this.”

In the comment, the player is referring to Miami’s Cam Ward, who sat in the second half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Iowa State. Nonetheless, it’s unclear whether Emmanwori clarified to Beamer and the staff beforehand that he intended to sit the second half.

He recorded five tackles in the first half before leaving the game. Shortly after the contest, Emmanwori declared for the 2025 NFL Draft. He is the No. 2 safety in ESPN’s Mel Kiper’s NFL Big Board for the 2025 draft class.

Emmanwori amassed 88 tackles this season and four interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. He spent three seasons at South Carolina, where he amassed 244 tackles and six interceptions.

Shane Beamer reflects on 2024 team

While Beamer may not have been happy with Nick Emmanwori’s decision in the Citrus Bowl, he was beyond proud of his team’s effort. In fact, he was grateful for the team’s effort from spring practice all the way to their final game.

“The work that these guys put in from January, July, August, throughout the season — I just told them in the locker room, to sit there and be 3-3 at one point in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and there was a lot of hurt and frustration in that locker room, because at that point we had two losses by a total of five points,” Beamer said. “The way that group came together. I hoped that they would be remembered for that.”

“In life, adversity happens and adversity comes your way, and when we dealt with adversity at 3-3, no one in our program blinked. To run off six wins in a row like we did and have a shot at the playoff going into the last weekend. Then to come down here and have an opportunity to win 10 games, I’d hoped they’d be remembered for the great moments on the field for a lot of the things they accomplished for the first time ever at Carolina.”