Photo Courtesy: South Carolina Athletics
Just a few weeks ago when I logged onto Twitter or X, whatever you want to call it, following South Carolina’s loss to Alabama, it was filled with a ton of disdain for many Gamecock players and coaches but the majority of it seemed to be directed at one player, LaNorris Sellers.
The Gamecocks had just lost a two point game to the then #7 Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Sellers had thrown two touchdowns but had also thrown two interceptions and fumbled twice. Lots of fans started writing off the redshirt freshman quarterback and the typical Gamecock negativity started really showing itself again.
The next week Sellers led the Gamecocks to a win at Oklahoma 35-9 in a game that saw South Carolina jump out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Sellers didn’t have to be great that day as the defense was the star of the show. The Gamecock defense scored a couple times including a pick-6 and a scoop and score.
Two weeks later Sellers would take the field at home against Texas A&M one of the top ranked defenses not only in the SEC but in the country.
And the redshirt freshman was….well…..amazing. His ability to escape tackles and avoid sure sacks was unbelievable Saturday. I know this term is often overused but there were times he made escapes that made him look like the late Harry Houdini.
Sellers was 13 of 27 for 244 yards through the air with two touchdowns, while also rushing the ball 15 times for 106 yards and another score. However, it was again his ability to extend plays that looked to be dead in the water that makes him special.
X was a much different place this Saturday night and Sunday morning. Praise for Sellers across social media and on all the sports networks and websites was high, and it should be. He had a special night Saturday night against a very good Texas A&M defense.
Prior to the start of this season I spent a lot of time on the radio trying to prepare Gamecock fans about what I believed we would see from Sellers this year. We knew he had a ton of potential we saw it when he was in high school and we saw it in limited action a year ago, but we also knew that there were going to be growing pains. He is a RS freshman. This are his first starts of his career, in the toughest conference in college football. He was and is going to make young quarterback mistakes especially in the early part of the season, which we saw. But as this season continues to move forward those mistakes should and have become less and less.
Sellers 100+ yard rushing game was also the first time a Gamecock quarterback rushed for over 100 yards in a conference game since Corey Jenkins did it in 2002.
Rocket Sanders also had a huge night with 20 carries 144 yards and two touchdowns. He looked a lot more healthy than he has a lot of the time this year.
Gamecocks had 530 yards of total offense and dominated the A&M defense especially in the second half.
Gamecocks got more voters in the AP top 25 this week but failed to crack the poll. They will travel to #24 Vanderbilt next Saturday for a 4:30 kickoff against a Commodore team that has wins over Alabama and Auburn and two 3 point losses to Missouri and Texas.
