Shane Beamer raves about growth of LaNorris Sellers, performance vs. Alabama

South Carolina was just a few plays away from an upset win on the road against Alabama last weekend. Taking a 27-25 loss in a hard-fought battle that drops the Gamecocks’ record to 3-3 at the midway point of the season.

Despite ending on the losing side of things, redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers had the best performance of his young career. Which his head coach Shane Beamer discussed on Wednesday during his press conference.

“I thought it was a heck of a performance to be able to go on the road in that stadium,” Beamer said. “And Joe DeCamillis and I were talking about it last week, like go back and look at the quarterbacks that have won in that stadium. There’s very few. Johnny Manziel, Joe Burrow, Quinn Ewers, I’m not even sure there’s many after that, if there are any. So LaNorris was right on the verge of being able to add his name to legendary quarterbacks that have won in that stadium. Cam Newton as well, so he was right there.”

Sellers has shown Newton-like flashes this season for the Gamecocks given his size and skill set. Throwing for a career-high 238 yards with two touchdowns and one interception against the Crimson Tide while also making plays with his legs and showing room for improvement.

“It says a lot about him, it says a lot about the people around him, the way that Mike Shula and Dowell Loggains have coached him. The way that the receivers, and the running backs, and the tight ends continue to get better around him. You give credit to LaNorris, the kind of kid he is, young man, the competitor he is, his poise.”

Last season as a true freshman, Sellers appeared in just three games where he attempted just four passes. Taking over South Carolina’s offense with very little experience this season in a stretch where he’s missed significant time.

“Started Old Dominion, he got knocked out of the Kentucky game, so he missed time in the Kentucky game. He got knocked out of the LSU game, he didn’t play the whole second half. He missed the Akron game and then he came back against Ole Miss, and then obviously Alabama,” Beamer explained. “So he’s still young and hasn’t played a ton of football this season. So I think it was just a natural progression of just him continuing to get experience and being comfortable and making plays, without a doubt.”

Sellers turned 19 this summer and potentially has a very bright future ahead of him for years to come. As he’ll lead the Gamecocks into another hostile environment this weekend in Norman for a matchup against Oklahoma.