LaNorris Sellers Reacts to South Carolina’s Win Over S.C. State
Quarterback LaNorris Sellers finished with 128 passing yards and a touchdown in South Carolina’s 38-10 victory over S.C. State on Saturday night. After the game, Sellers shared his thoughts on the long weather delay, the offense’s struggles, and how the Gamecocks can improve heading into SEC play.
On the four-hour weather delay
Sellers admitted the long pause wasn’t ideal but said it wasn’t an excuse:
“It’s like a setback, but I mean, we’ve still got to go there and play whenever it’s time to go or whatever. We’ve got to get started faster.”
On early offensive miscues
When asked about the rough start and procedural issues, Sellers explained:
“We just say focus on my voice, really, because they were making shift calls, and that was really what was throwing them off. They had good timing on it, and they were shifting as soon as I was going to clap. When they said shift, I was clapping, and then he was like flinching a little bit, but other than that, we’ve just got to be better.”
On fixing slow starts
Sellers pointed to communication and preparation:
“We’ve just got to go out there, we’ve got to know what we need to do. Just think faster, communicate more, and just all be on the same page.”
On whether the offense has found a rhythm yet
The sophomore acknowledged that things clicked more smoothly in fall camp:
“I would say we were clicking a little bit better. I’m not sure if it’s the competition or just the different looks from seeing our defense to different looks from other teams. We’ve just got to communicate better and execute better.”
On his individual performance
Sellers kept it simple:
“Obviously, I can be better. I think we just need to be better offensively.”
On starting drives deep in their own territory
Sellers admitted it was frustrating, but also part of the game:
“Yes, it’s super frustrating, but like I said, we’ve got to go out there (and) we’ve got to execute. Kudos to our defense for getting the stop. It’s just football. Sometimes you’ve got to go 95 yards, sometimes it’s going to be five yards, but you’ve got to execute.”
On what the team learned from the win
Looking ahead to SEC play, Sellers stressed improvement across the board:
“We’ve just got to be better. We’re starting SEC play. We’ve got to communicate, execute, be on the same page. That’s really all that comes down to.”
On the importance of the first drive in the second half
Head coach Shane Beamer emphasized halftime adjustments, and Sellers felt the offense responded:
“We went out there – I’m not sure if that was the job we scored or not (they did) – but he said just come out fast. We talk about the middle eight all the time, just that last four minutes in the second quarter and the first four minutes in the third quarter. For us to go out there and begin the second half and have something going, it just shows that we didn’t start off how we wanted to, but we’re still a team that can finish.”
On keeping his teammates composed during struggles
As the leader of the offense, Sellers said his job is to remain steady:
“Really just keep talking to them. I think my job is to stay calm and all that, and never get too high, never get too low. If things are going bad, they’re going bad, but as long as I don’t panic, I think they’re not going to panic. I’m talking to boys constantly. I know we had a couple false starts. I just let them know, hey we’re good, we’re good. We’ve still got a lot of game left and stuff like that. I’m being the same person the whole time, not getting too high and not getting too frustrated or upset or anything like that. I think we’d be all right.”
