'He blacked out after': Nick Emmanwori shows his athleticism for first career interception against Kentucky
Through 23 games in his college career, Nick Emmanwori had never recorded an interception. He had done just about everything else but that.
But at some point, he was due to get one for himself. And when he did, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Midway through the second quarter of last Saturday’s game versus Kentucky, the Wildcats were driving down the field and inside the red zone. With a second and long play upcoming, quarterback Devin Leary through a one-on-one ball to his tight end in the end zone. But it was Emmanwori who came down with the ball to get that elusive first career interception.
“Everybody was turnt,” Marcellas Dial said. “He blacked out after. Like you couldn’t calm him down. He was turnt up until the whole offense was on the field.”
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As Emmanwori stood back up, he had the ball in his hand and raced from the end zone to about the 35-yard line, where he was tackled by a Wildcat defender. But that didn’t stop him from getting back up and celebrating some more.
That was definitely big for his confidence,” Dial said. “It took him all the way down to the last two games to get one this year. So it was definitely big for his confidence in the secondary. We’re just happy for him. Finally got one, and it was a crazy one, too. So that’s definitely a good one for the books.”
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For defensive coordinator Clayton White, he couldn’t have been more happy for his sophomore defensive back.
“At the end of the day, obviously, we want to get the ball back, that was a big turnover. Anytime you get a turnover in the red zone, to me, that counts as two. Just from a football mentality standpoint, that counts as to two. Took points off the board and he got it back to our offense,” he said.
What stood out to White about that interception was the athleticism it took to make it happen. Emmanwori not only had to cover his man, but he also had to leap backwards and high enough in the air to make that catch, which he did.
“The athleticism of that play, to me, that’s the Nick Emmanwori that we see, that Gamecock nation don’t get to see,” White said. “You won’t find another person that size and speed that can do some of the things that he can do. So he’s probably our best player in everything. To me, that was more of this is the Nick Emmanwori we see every single day. It finally showcased on a Saturday in between the lines, in between the whistles. I was very excited about that.”
