Pro Football Focus puts South Carolina football star on National Team of the Week

On Saturday, Shane Beamer's South Carolina football team demolished the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington behind a dominant defensive effort.

One of the Gamecocks' biggest standouts from the victory was safety Nick Emmanwori. Leading USC with 7 tackles, the junior defensive back also baited UK quarterback Brock Vandagriff into an interception, and after picking off the pass, Emmanwori raced through the Kentucky offensive players' tackle attempts and crossed the goal line for his first career pick-6.

For his performance, Nick Emmanwori was rewarded with a spot on Pro Football Focus' National Team of the Week. Emmanwori was one of two safeties to make the team, joining Southern Miss Golden Eagles senior Dylan Lawrence. Last week, following the Gamecocks' win over the Old Dominion Monarchs, Carolina freshman EDGE Dylan Stewart made PFF's Team of the Week and was the outlet's National Defensive Player of the Week.

Emmanwori, a Columbia native, is one of the top NFL Draft prospects in the country at the safety position. He was a Freshman All-American in 2022 and could be in line for an All-SEC spot if he continues playing well this fall.

So far this fall, Emmanwori is 2nd on the team in tackles (trailing only linebacker Debo Williams) and is one of three Gamecocks with an interception. For most of his career, Emmanwori did not have any interceptions, but that has changed as he now has three interceptions in his last four games

Emmanwori and his South Carolina football team will play at home on Saturday against the LSU Tigers. College GameDay will be in town for the first time since 2014, and the Gamecocks will be looking to move to 3-0 on the 2024 season in front of a sold-out crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium. GameDay coverage will begin at 9:00 AM ET (on ESPN, ESPNU and the ESPN app), and kickoff is slated for Noon ET and will broadcast on ABC and will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.