South Carolina’s O’Donnell Fortune understands his bowl assignment loud and clear
South Carolina defensive back O’Donnell Fortune smirked at a reporter’s observation.
“You’re the quietest defensive back I’ve been around,” the writer quipped.
“For real? That’s crazy,” Fortune said, laughing. “On the field, I’m not.”
Fortune is cool and calm in his demeanor, a change from the usually eccentric attitudes that are common in defensive back rooms. He almost whispers as a group of reporters asks him about what’s expected to be a bigger role in Friday’s Gator Bowl against No. 21 Notre Dame.
Down the Gamecocks’ usual starters Cam Smith and Darius Rush — both of whom opted out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft — it’ll be the soft-spoken Sumter product who will be tasked with replacing a chunk of their snaps and production.
“There’s no adjustment to be made,” Fortune said of taking on a bigger role in this week’s gameplan. “Just ready for my name to be called. Now it’s here. It’s an opportunity. I’ve got to do something about it.”
South Carolina has been hit hard by opt-outs, injuries and transfers over the last month. Smith and Rush’s decisions not to play are glaring. As are running back MarShawn Lloyd and Jaheim Bell’s respective transfers.
Defensively, the Gamecocks will be without Rush, Smith and defensive tackle Zacch Pickens. Safety Devonni Reed, who’d been banged up in the latter stages of the year, also won’t play in the game.
The Gamecocks’ depth chart lists freshman defensive backs Kajuan Banks, DQ Smith, Keenan Nelson, Nick Emmanwori, Peyton Williams and Emory Floyd. That leaves Fortune as one of the more experienced options on the back end alongside Marcellas Dial, whose served as South Carolina’s third cornerback for the bulk of the season.
“Last year, we played this game without Cam (Smith) and whoever else was out there. I know we were down some DBs,” head coach Shane Beamer said on Monday. Younger players have “gotten experience and we’ll need them this week.”
Fortune isn’t without experience like so many of the other young defensive backs South Carolina will call on this week in Jacksonville. He’s played in 19 games over three seasons and at least eight this year and last fall — including a start in the Charlotte game. His snaps have fluctuated some, but Fortune saw 25 snaps or more in five of the eight games he played in this year.
That’s come with relatively steady consistency despite a fluctuation in actual snaps. Fortune was the second-highest rated cornerback among South Carolina’s primary quartet of him, Smith, Rush, Dial, per Pro Football Focus. His 11 yards per reception allowed is also tops on the team among cornerbacks.
That said, Fortune hasn’t been completely without his faults. The 96.2 NFL passer rating against him is the lowest such number among South Carolina’s corners who have played at least 15% of snaps this year. He’s also allowed touchdowns on three of the nine receptions made against him.
“I truly feel like he has grown throughout the year and he’s now just being himself, and it’s cool to see,” defensive coordinator Clayton White said last week, “if he’s not like all of a sudden trying to do too much.”
South Carolina’s younger options, too, have shown promise. Emmanwori and Smith have starred for the bulk of the season at safety — the former playing well enough that four-year starter R.J. Roderick entered the transfer portal during the season.
“It’s developing chemistry with the back seven,” Banks said of how the younger defensive backs have been able to work their way into the lineup. “... We’re all clicking real good, working together and working to learn and play better.”
Asked to rank the team’s biggest trash-talkers earlier this year, the bulk of South Carolina’s players who were queried said Cam Smith was the best of the bunch.
Fortune joked that he’s taken some of that from his ex-running mate. He likes to think he’s added bits and pieces of what Smith and 2021 first-round pick Jaycee Horn, among others who’ve played with him, and woven it into his own game.
“On the field, I’ve got that Cam in me,” he said through a smirk. “You ever seen Cam play? It’s that mentality. It’s like a dog. I’m not quiet on the field. You’ll see.”
If South Carolina gets its wish, Fortune will flash the same potential those defensive backs who starred in Columbia in years past on Friday against Notre Dame.
GATOR BOWL GAME INFO
Who: No. 19 South Carolina (8-4) vs. No. 21 Notre Dame (8-4)
Where: TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
When: Friday at 3:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
