Heading into the 2025 season, South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers was considered one of the early favorites for the Heisman Trophy. Two games in, the hype hasn’t fully translated on the field—but there’s still time for that to change.
One reason for the slow start has been pass protection. Against Virginia Tech, the Gamecocks surrendered four sacks, followed by two more last week against South Carolina State. Overall, Sellers has been sacked on 12 percent of his dropbacks.
The offensive line knows the issue and says it comes down to one critical area: communication.
“To be an effective offensive line, you have to play five as one,” right tackle Cason Henry said. “Any level of football, that’s true. I think communication is probably our biggest thing right now, from LaNorris to Boaz and Boaz out. There were like six or seven times that I saw in the game where we weren’t getting the calls.”
This isn’t unfamiliar territory. Last season, South Carolina allowed four sacks in its opener against Old Dominion and another four against Kentucky the following week. Still, the line eventually settled in, sparking a six-game winning streak to close the year.
Center Boaz Stanley stressed that even with a 2-0 record, the Gamecocks can’t afford to get complacent.
“(The missed calls) go back to what we were just saying, making sure that we can hear everything. And if we’re not sure, I’ve got to sit down on the ball and get everybody on the same page,” Stanley said. “If we don’t all know what the play is, just ‘Hey, what’s the play?’ and we can make sure that we got the correct play from LaNorris and we’re not running something that’s completely wrong.”
While the home crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium is usually a weapon, the noise can sometimes make things harder for the offense too.
“It’s loud, you know what I mean?” Henry explained. “Sometimes the band’s really loud … you can’t really hear that much, but we really need to be on the same page, especially at home, when we’re not in an away atmosphere. Today, especially, we worked on communication a lot. Lonnie’s got a great game plan coming together to let us play downhill.”
Sellers has reportedly asked offensive coordinator Mike Shula for more designed quarterback runs, though it’s unclear if that wrinkle will be added this week. In the passing game, he has avoided turnovers so far but is averaging just 168.5 yards per contest. Improved protection could be the key to unlocking his full potential.
Ultimately, Saturday’s matchup may come down to who controls the line of scrimmage. The Gamecocks’ offensive line versus Vanderbilt’s defense will be a decisive battle in Columbia.
