I’m setting the bar high. Real high.
And South Carolina’s offense deserves it after nearly punching a ticket to the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. At the heart of that late-season surge was LaNorris Sellers, who emerged as one of the top 5 quarterbacks in college football down the stretch — and that might actually be an understatement.
Sure, the Gamecocks finished No. 47 in scoring and No. 57 in yards per play among FBS teams. Not exactly record-breaking. But Sellers’ electric playmaking — especially when paired with a healthy Rocket Sanders — made the offense must-watch.
Now, both Sanders and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains are gone, and those are major shoes to fill. But Sellers returns, and he’s joined this spring by Nyck Harbor, a two-time “Freaks List” honoree who’s chosen football over track. That raises the question:
How high should expectations be for the 2025 Gamecocks offense?
There’s no reason why this group can’t challenge for the title of best offense in program history. With all due respect to past Gamecock QBs like Spencer Rattler, Connor Shaw, and Stephen Garcia, South Carolina has never returned a quarterback with Sellers’ upside. That’s why FanDuel currently lists him at +1,800 for the Heisman Trophy — 8th-best preseason odds.
Here’s a look at South Carolina’s top 5 scoring offenses ever:
- 1995 – 36.5 PPG
- 2013 – 34.1 PPG
- 2014 – 32.6 PPG
- 2022 – 32.2 PPG
- 1973 – 31.5 PPG
That ’95 offense scored big but still went 4-6-1 due to defensive struggles. Fast forward three decades — Sellers and company might just raise the bar. Over the final six regular-season games in 2024, the Gamecocks averaged 35.7 PPG (or 33.3 PPG excluding non-offensive scores). Even more impressive, five of those six games were against defenses ranked in the top 50.
South Carolina returns a No. 40-ranked percentage of offensive production, and while the team loses the explosive Sanders, head coach Shane Beamer brought in Rahsul Faison, a 1,100-yard rusher from Utah State. Faison forced 69 missed tackles (No. 8 in FBS, min. 100 carries) and averaged 3.86 yards after contact. That’s a strong replacement.
The offensive line returns just two full-time starters, but Beamer emphasized that competition and portal additions are shaking things up there.
The success of this offense, however, rests on Sellers’ continued growth under new offensive coordinator Mike Shula. While Loggains wasn’t widely seen as elite, he helped Sellers evolve, improving his footwork and ability to extend plays while keeping his eyes downfield. That development was also evident in Rattler’s second year.
At this point in Sellers’ development, he may benefit more from a brilliant play-caller than a fundamentals coach. Whether Shula, who spent last season as an analyst, can provide that remains to be seen — but continuity in the system should help. Sellers isn’t starting over with a new playbook, and that’s why he’s got All-American potential.
And then there’s the wild card: Nyck Harbor. For the first time, he’s focusing fully on football this spring. After a slow start to his career, Harbor broke out over the final seven games of 2024, averaging 46 receiving yards and scoring three touchdowns. Before facing Alabama, he had just four catches of 20+ yards in 1.5 seasons. In his final stretch, he logged six such plays. His route-running clearly improved.
Harbor’s challenge now is earning respect as a complete receiver, not just a sprinter with elite speed. Last year, he had only 10 downfield targets. That’s despite the fact that no other Gamecock receiver had more than six. The team needs Harbor to emerge as a true deep threat, someone who can consistently stretch defenses and give Sellers a weapon over the top.
If there was a criticism of the offense in 2024, it was the overreliance on Sellers’ improvisation. Just 13% of his passes traveled 20+ yards downfield — not even top 100 in FBS — but his 56.3% adjusted completion percentage on those throws was second-best in the country. With Harbor stepping up, that number could rise in both volume and impact.
The Gamecocks haven’t yet added a receiver from the portal, but they may not need to. Between a full-time Harbor, veteran Jared Brown, and promising slot option Mazeo Bennett, the weapons are there. If that trio clicks, Sellers can fully unlock his top-5 quarterback potential.
This offense is capable of averaging 6.5 yards per play and 35 points per game — which would’ve ranked in the top 20 in FBS last season. Anything less, assuming Sellers stays healthy, would be a letdown. That kind of firepower may be necessary if the defense regresses after losing eight players to the NFL Combine.
Bottom line: we’ve moved far beyond the days of hoping a 4-star Will Muschamp-era QB would pan out. Sellers should’ve been South Carolina’s first-ever All-SEC quarterback last season, but the honor went to Quinn Ewers instead. Maybe that snub adds fuel to the fire.
Either way, the ingredients are in place for one of the most explosive offensive seasons South Carolina has ever seen.
So yes — go ahead and set that bar sky-high.
