Did South Carolina's defense have a 'historic' season? Multiple players think so

Nick Emmanwori knew what South Carolina’s defense was capable of well before the 2024 season kicked off.

During an NIL event with Palmetto Autographs in late June, Emmanwori made a lofty proclamation about how the Gamecocks would perform. He didn’t say they were going to be just “good,” or even that they’d be “great.” Instead, Emmanwori used a loaded word beginning with the later “H”: “historic.”

“We could probably see a historical defense from this team,” Emmanwori told GamecockCentral at the time. “We have a lot of dudes up front. TJ Sanders, ‘Boogie’ (Alex Huntley), Tonk(a Hemingway), Debo Williams, Bam Martin-Scott, me and DQ (Smith) in the back end, ‘OD’ (O’Donnell Fortune), Jalon (Kilgore). This defense is going to be crazy, something to see.”

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Fast forward six months, and South Carolina has reaped the rewards of strong defensive play. The Gamecocks finished the regular season with a 9-3 record, including a 5-3 mark against conference opponents. South Carolina narrowly missed the College Football Playoff, landing at No. 15 in the Selection Committee’s final rankings. The team is set to take on No. 20 Illinois in the Citrus Bowl, a distinction given to the best SEC team that failed to make the playoff.

When it’s all said and done, though, did South Carolina have another great year on defense? Or were the Gamecocks’ accomplishments and accolades truly historic? Given the opportunity to speak on this matter on Friday, multiple players agreed with the latter option.

“I believe we lived up to that because we believed in that belief, that motto: ‘Being the best, and being historic,'” Demetrius Knight Jr. said.

South Carolina placed itself among the nation’s best with its defensive exploits throughout the 2024 campaign. Compared to other FBS squads, the Gamecocks ranked 14th in points allowed per game (17.8), 13th in total offense allowed per game (313.3 yards) and 11th in rushing yards allowed per game (106.3). In the SEC, South Carolina placed fifth, third and fourth, respectively, in these metrics.

The Gamecocks also ranked 10th nationally in sacks, with 40. Should South Carolina register 3.5 total sacks against the Fighting Illini on Dec. 31, this year’s team will break a program record set in 2012. That year, the Gamecocks’ defense totaled 43 sacks, 13 of which came from Jadeveon Clowney.

The team also saw multiple defensive players garner national accolades. Kyle Kennard became South Carolina’s first consensus All-American since Clowney in 2012 after landing on all five All-America teams and being named to three outlets’ First Teams – the American Football Coaches Association, the Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Foundation. Meanwhile, Nick Emmanwori was placed on The Sporting News’ and the Associated Press’ All-America First Teams.

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The Gamecocks’ defense did fall short of one preseason expectation, though – “getting donuts,” as Williams said during SEC Media Days. South Carolina held four opponents to under 10 points this season, but they all scored at some point in their respective contests. The team allowed a season-low six points to Kentucky in its second game of the season.

Despite this, Huntley felt that that Emmanwori’s initial claim about the Gamecocks’ defense held true.

“I’d like to think so,” Huntley said. “I think there’s way more we could have done. But, with that being said, I also do think we did some really, really good things this year. (I’m) just super proud of the whole team – the defense, especially. So, I think we did pretty good for ourselves.”

Hemingway expressed similar sentiments about South Carolina’s defensive displays this year.

“I feel like we lived up to that a little bit,” Hemingway said. “We could’ve done better. But, from what he said, I feel like we did what we were supposed to do.”

While Hemingway and Hunter focused on what the team has already accomplished, Knight looked toward the future. Knight said that the Gamecocks’ historic 2024 season will set the stage for success in the years to come.

“Of course, we didn’t just let it go to waste. We didn’t just say it just to put get another thing up on the wall in here, or things like that, or something to advertise to recruits. We lived it out on and off the field,” Knight said. “I believe that’s why you see the types of recruits we’re getting here. People are starting to realize what this place is truly about, and being a historic defense helps with that.”

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