Nick Emmanwori earning respect with confident play

Nick Emmanwori knew he would play as a freshman. But he didn’t expect the role he finds himself in heading into the South Carolina bowl game.

While fifth-year safety RJ Roderick earned the starting role, Emmanwori stayed prepared. When Roderick went down with an injury in week one against Georgia State, the true freshman’s opportunity arrived.

“I was doing Zooms with coach (Torrian) Gray before I came in, so I was really confident coming up here and knowing the plays,” Emmanwori said. “I wasn’t expecting to start, so that first game when I came in, it was like clockwork.”

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From that point on, he never looked back.

The 6-foot-4, 218-pound safety has played in every game, starting 11. He led the defense with 78 tackles. He also recovered one fumble and had a pass deflection, helping him earn All-SEC Freshman honors.

One thing that Emmanwori hasn’t lacked is confidence. Redshirt junior defensive back Marcellas Dial noticed this right away.

“He never flinched, never blinked,” Dial said. “Went in there with confidence. He knew what he was going to have to do and that we weren’t looking at him as a freshman and we were looking at him as a vet like he’s been here before.”

Part of Emmanwori’s self-belief comes from Gray, the Gamecocks’ defensive backs coach, who helped elevate his game.

“He feels real confident in our technique so that allowed us to play fast,” Emmanwori said. “I know I can cover receivers. I can run fast and move. I’ve got good hips. He knows what I can do, so I feel like him having confidence in us makes me play better and excel as a group.”

Win a football autographed by Rattler, Emmanwori, Kroeger, and others

Emmanwori said he felt “pretty confident” in every game, even when it came to facing the best players. He felt strongly enough to hit Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson head-on instead of hitting him lower. Jefferson is an inch shorter but weighs 243 pounds, making him hard to tackle.

“A lot of people told me that he’s a big quarterback, so chop his legs,” Emmanwori remembered. “But I wasn’t even thinking like that — I was just coming straight up. And I was like, ‘That’s a big boy play right there.'”

Emmanwori was one of the bigger players on Irmo High School’s football team. When he got to South Carolina, he realized that he was no longer the big guy on defense.

“You’re going against Georgia and they have big tight ends like number zero, Brock (Bowers),” he said. “Seeing how the SEC is kind of real big and you see this big boy ball. So seeing that opened my eyes like wow, I’m not the only big guy out here.”

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As the regular season went on, Emmanwori gained more experience as a consistent starter. Dial said he made strides in coverage, reading his keys and ensuring he was in the right spots.

Emmanwori agreed with Dial, adding it was an adjustment coming from high school.

“In high school, I was always a great tackler — I was real versatile,” he said. “They had me playing nickel, linebacker, sometimes rushing off the edge, safety when it was a passing situation. So coming into college, I just had to buckle down and pick and choose. I would say my coverage got better as the season went on. That’s why I say it’s going to continue to get better.”

When Emmanwori isn’t making tackles on defense, he can be found on South Carolina’s special teams. Normally, freshmen who aren’t playing much can find their way onto the field through special teams. In Emmanwori’s case, he gets to do both.

His biggest play of the season didn’t come at safety, but rather on the punt team.

With the Gamecocks leading then-No. 8 Clemson 31-30, Emmanwori raced down the field on a Kai Kroeger punt, trying to evade his blocker. As Clemson’s punt returner Antonio Williams caught the punt and cut up the field, graduate tight end Nate Adkins lurked behind him. Adkins got a hand on the ball and knocked it free. It was a skirmish to the loose ball but Emmanwori came up with it to seal the upset victory.

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Emmanwori remembered an important message from special teams coach Pete Lembo: “When you run to the ball, good things happen.”

In this case, he was right.

“When I had seen the ball pop out, I just jumped on it — not even like I was thinking twice — I just jumped on the ball,” Emmanwori said. “I knew the game was over then so when I got up and ran down the field, I was excited.”

With the season winding down, South Carolina has been preparing for the Gator Bowl against No. 21 Notre Dame on Dec. 30. For Emmanwori, who will get to play in his first bowl game, it’s something he’s dreamt about.

“When I was younger, I used to watch bowl games with my dad after the season. So actually playing in one, it’s insane,” he said. “Notre Dame is a big school, big brand. So it’s going to be a great game and great time.”

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