How a conversation with the Lord helped Demetrius Knight Jr. make game-winning interception to beat Clemson
In a moment where Clemson was on the verge of either tying or taking the lead in the final seconds, Demetrius Knight Jr. had a conversation with the Lord above.
This was a pivotal point in what was shaping up to be an all-time game. With 16 seconds to go, the Tigers had just spiked the ball to keep the clock from rolling. This set up a chance to reset with the ball at South Carolina’s 18-yard line.
With the Gamecock defense unable to slow down Clemson’s offense on this drive, Knight spoke with the Lord and asked for his help.
“I asked the Lord before that play, I said, ‘I need you on this one. I need you on this one,'” Knight said. “They’re close. They’re in range. They could easily take this game over.”
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As soon as the ball was snapped on the next play, Knight said the lord told him to follow Clemson running back Phil Mafah. He put his faith in the Lord’s hands and let the rest take care of itself.
Knight followed Mafah and picked off quarterback Cade Klubnik’s pass, which went behind the running back and into the South Carolina linebacker’s hands for the game-winning interception to cap off No. 15 South Carolina’s 17-14 win over No. 12 Clemson on Saturday.
“(The Lord) said it’s going to tip behind him and that’s exactly what the ball did. It came right to me and I caught it — game,” Knight said.
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In his final regular season game of his college career, also in his only season as a Gamecock, Knight made one of the biggest plays of his life. It’s a moment that will be remembered forever in Columbia.
“So happy for D Knight. What a leader he is. What a person he is. What a way for him to finish,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “… I’ve told you guys before that Geoff Collins, the defensive coordinator at North Carolina, told me that D Knight was maybe his favorite player ever of all time and I see exactly what he means, as well.”
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Knight led all defensive players for South Carolina with 10 tackles, eight of which were solo. His efforts came on a day where the Gamecocks didn’t win the turnover battle. But they did force two takeaways and held Clemson to zero points off turnovers.
“That’s the motto. That’s what we live by,” Knight said on the defense. “We talk about, you can put it down on the concrete, you can put it down in the parkway, the tarmac. Put the ball down. Defense, we gonna come get the ball right back. Wherever you wanna play ball, we can play ball.”
