Trio of South Carolina defenders make National Team of the Week
South Carolina football fans witnessed a defensive masterclass on Saturday. The Gamecocks rocked the wagon wheels right off the Sooner Schooner with a 35-9 beatdown and set some defensive records along the way.
For the first time in Oklahoma history, the Sooners gave up nine sacks. Even more impressively, nine different Gamecocks logged those quarterback stops. South Carolina also logged three turnovers and two defensive touchdowns in the opening six minutes of the game.
Because of the huge performance, three South Carolina defenders found themselves on PFF’s Team of the Week for week eight. In fact, all three levels of the Gamecocks defense were honored with high grades from PFF.
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The least surprising inclusion was PFF’s choice of Nick Emmanwori as one of the outlet’s top safeties of the week. The Irmo native earned a 90.9 PFF grade, and one look at his stats from Saturday tells the story. Emmanwori intercepted two passes, including one 66-yard pick-six that effectively ended the game less than six minutes after kickoff. He also added 11 tackles, one of them coming behind the line of scrimmage. The SEC also named the junior the Co-Defensive Player of the Week in the SEC.
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Linebacker Demetrius Knight dominated the Sooners, as well. The redshirt senior transfer portal addition also made 11 stops. Knight logged two tackles for loss, including a huge sack and forced fumble that resulted in a Tonka Hemingway score. His 91.6 grade was the highest on a defense loaded with excellent PFF marks.
Bryan Thomas, Jr., who only played just 27 snaps on Saturday, also was impactful. In just 20 pass play snaps, the EDGE player logged three pressures, two hurries, and a sack. He also forced a fumble on his sack just before Debo Williams leveled Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold. A 91.1 grade as a pass rusher buoyed his overall 90.7 number.
