Nick Emmanwori's teammates react to him not playing in second half of Citrus Bowl

When South Carolina’s defense took the field for the first time in the second half, a familiar face, who made so many big plays throughout this season, wasn’t out there.

Nick Emmanwori, who decided to play in the Gamecocks’ Citrus Bowl game, stood on the sideline still dressed out in his full uniform. No helmet in sight, just a football in hand.

As the game continued along, Emmanwori didn’t put his helmet back on and go back in to finish out. Instead, he continued to watch on like he had been doing. And that’s the way it went for the rest of the game.

As it turned out, Emmanwori didn’t play a single snap in the final 30 minutes of South Carolina’s 21-17 loss to Illinois on Tuesday. After the game, head coach Shane Beamer said it was “an internal team matter” when it came to Emmanwori’s situation.

Source: What happened with Nick Emmanwori in the Citrus Bowl

When the team filed out of the locker room to head to the buses, Emmanwori popped out, now dressed in a black jumpsuit with his hood on. He later confirmed to a reporter that this was his final game at South Carolina, meaning he will now prepare for the 2025 NFL Draft.

His decision to turn pro isn’t surprising. With how high he is on draft boards, he will surely be an early round pick. But what was surprising to many was him deciding not to finish the game he chose to originally play in.

“I don’t really know,” said Jalon Kilgore, sharing his reaction to Emmanwori not playing in the second half. “It was really up to his decision.”

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For Emmanwori’s teammates, it’s something they probably didn’t expect or saw coming. The junior defensive back isn’t the only player this week to decide to do something like this. Three days earlier, right here in Orlando at the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Miami quarterback Cam Ward played in the first half against Iowa State and threw for three touchdowns. But after halftime, he didn’t take the field again as the Hurricanes lost 42-41 to end the year.

The inner details of what really happened with Emmanwori and what changed for him are unknown. But even with him not being out there, some of his teammates, like Demetrius Knight Jr., don’t hold it against him.

“He played his role. He did what he thought was best for him and his career that’s going to take him very far to the next level,” Knight said. “So can’t be mad at him at all. Definitely thank him for stepping on the field with us one more time, strapping it up one more time and finishing in the garnet, white and black.”

Even without playing a whole half, Emmanwori still led the way with five tackles. But because of his absence, the Gamecocks were forced to rely on others in the secondary to step up. It’s been a consistent rotation of players out there, but Peyton Williams saw more time as a result and made three tackles. Others like Vicari Swain and Judge Collier, who already play a lot, were also called upon more as younger guys in the room.

“There is no drop-off when guys come in. Of course, I’ll probably look back and do a double take for a second just to see, ‘Oh, that’s Peyton back there.’ But there’s no drop-off,” Knight said. “I’m like, hey, he knows what he’s doing out there. I have complete trust in him. Great communication. I know he’s going to do whatever it takes.”

In the end, Emmanwori not being on the field wasn’t the reason why South Carolina lost this game. There were several other reasons for that. But rest assured, the secondary felt good about how they made it work without their teammate alongside them.

“I don’t think it was too big of a fall off,” Kilgore said. “We’ve got depth in the DB room. Everybody’s good. We can put somebody out there and they can play and handle business and take care of their job. Everybody knows how to play; everybody knows their position and rules. So, it wasn’t too much of a fall off.”

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