Why this senior Gamecock leader decided not to opt out: It ‘just wouldn’t be right’
The South Carolina football program has been through a lot in the past week or so: a blowout loss on the road to Ole Miss, the firing of head coach Will Muschamp, the subsequent decisions of four players to opt out of the rest of the season, capped off by a 17-10 loss at home Saturday to Missouri.
Speaking after that loss to Mizzou, the Gamecock players didn’t hide the fact that it’s been an emotionally draining couple of days. And at 2-6 now with two games left in the season, South Carolina is guaranteed a losing record for 2020.
Despite all that, redshirt senior offensive lineman Sadarius Hutcherson isn’t going anywhere. The big 6-foot-4, 320-pound guard could have left South Carolina to turn pro at the end of last year — he already had his degree — but he came back because there was “unfinished business,” he said.
And even though he credits Muschamp with a great deal in his development — coming in as an undersized prospect, Hutcherson bulked up and blossomed over time as one of the most impressive athletes in all of college football — the coach’s departure hasn’t changed anything in Hutcherson’s mind.
“After the Clemson game (last year) I told y’all, it’s unfinished business,” Hutcherson said Saturday after the loss to Missouri when asked why he didn’t opt out. “With me as a senior, I know what adversity is like, and at the end of the day, my guys need a leader, and they look up to me and a few more other players, and it just wouldn’t be right for me to leave.”
South Carolina lost Jaycee Horn, Israel Mukuamu, RJ Roderick and Makius Scott to opt-outs earlier this week.
“And at the end of the day, I’m finishing out, I was raised that way,” Hutcherson said. “My mom and dad always raised me to finish anything that I started. And that’s what I’m going to do. I’m gonna finish the last two games like a man, regardless of if we win and lose. But I’m not going to trade these guys for anything in the world. I will play any game, I don’t care if we got a bowl game, I’m still gonna play with them regardless of what happens.”
Most immediately, Hutcherson will have to prepare for next week’s matchup with Georgia — his final home game at Williams-Brice Stadium. It’s a milestone he’s already started to contemplate.
“After the game we were in the locker room and (offensive line coach Eric Wolford) mentioned it, saying this my last home game,” Hutcherson said. “And I’m not gonna lie ... all the games I played, all the stuff I’ve been through and all the hard work I put into this program, and it kind of hit me a little bit. But I know my guys are gonna be behind me, I’m gonna be behind my guys regardless, and every day, we try to find a way to win.”
Next South Carolina football game
Who: South Carolina (2-6) vs. No. 13 Georgia (5-2)
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium
TV: SEC Network
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 12:45 AM.
