Everything LaNorris Sellers said as South Carolina QB turns page to Kentucky
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers first career college start did not go as smoothly as he planned but the Gamecocks were still able to pull out the win and the redshirt freshman has stood in and answered every question about the outing.
Now, he’s ready to move forward with the next task, his first SEC and first road start as South Carolina travels to Kentucky this week.
Here’s a transcript (and video) of everything Sellers had to say this week.
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Question: LaNorris, we talked to you a little after the game, but after watching the film, how would you judge your performance from Saturday?
LaNorris Sellers: It wasn’t the best. I kind of played timid a little bit, kind of nervous, scared to make a mistake. I just got to go out there and play, just be myself.
Question: How do you develop chemistry with your wide receivers, especially because Coach Beamer said a lot of them will be used each game?
Sellers: Really just throwing extra as much as we can, any chance we get. Talking to them and then out there just live reps against the defense is the best thing you can do.
Question: When the pocket collapsed or defenders kind of got in your face, did you feel like your first move or thought in your head was, “Yeah, I got to run right here”? Or what was going through your head when those moments came about?
Sellers: Probably in the game was just take off and run, but I just need to be staying firm in the pocket, just be able to take those hits.
Question: With some of those things you just said, were those kind of the main coaching points from D-Lo?
Sellers: That was. So we talked after the game. He asked me how I felt. I’m usually, like, self-critic, like I criticize myself a lot. So as I went through the film, I could just tell I wasn’t myself. I was kind of jumpy. I was kind of fast, going through my reads fast, probably skipping some reads here and there. But I just need to be more patient.
Question: What were the positives you would say from what you did?
Sellers: I kept playing, really. I didn’t… Let’s see. I kept playing, stayed in the game, still talked, communicated. I just didn’t feel comfortable, I guess you can say.
Question: You talked about being timid and having to be more patient. How do you make yourself do that going forward? Because it’s a quick turnaround before you guys get up to Kentucky.
Sellers: I think it was just the first game thing. My first game starting, you know, 80,000 people. I think that was really just it. So I got the first game out of the way. I think I’ll be good from now on.
Question: A couple of linemen were talking about some of the struggles finishing drives, struggles in the red zone. From your perspective, was there anything specific going wrong once you were kind of inside the 20?
Sellers: I think really just communication and execution was the biggest thing. We just need to communicate better, execute better, and figure those things out as the game goes on.
Question: How much fun was it running the ball like you were? Because obviously, you hadn’t been really hit around here in a while. How nice was it to be able to?
Sellers: It was fun. Probably trying not to take so many hits, you would say. But other than that, like, it felt fine to me. I was good.
Question: Where do you feel like the connection was at on a scale of one to ten with the receivers? And how do you go about improving that this week heading into a big game on the road?
Sellers: I think just like I said earlier, just that being our first game together, because I think we only had three returning starters from last year. So just us all playing together, being on the same page. I think we just need to get that out of the way. I think we’ll be good from now on.
Question: How many times did you go back and watch the game after the game? And how do you watch film? Do you try to self-critique right in the moment? Do you write notes or do you just kind of make mental notes of what you need to do better?
Sellers: So first, I just like note what I missed during the game. And then after the game, before the film is out, released, just mental notes, go back to those plays I remember specifically. And then as I go through the game, I see what I need to get better at, see what I’ve missed, things like that. And then I go back third, fourth time, maybe just watch the actual scheme, see what was actually open, what was good. And then I just talk to D’Lo about it.
Question: On the deep ball to Jared Brown, what were you seeing on that play? And what do you say to a guy like that after he comes back and drops the ball?
Sellers: So I saw it was the exact look that we had in practice from film. We expected that to happen. And then after I throw it, you know, he dropped it, whatever. It’s like, hey, it’s fine, bro. We all drop passes. We all miss throws and stuff. So that was just the biggest thing for me with him, just keeping him in the game, keeping his head up in the game. He did the same thing for me.
[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-LSU football game]
Question: How frustrating is a day like Saturday when you know you can make a lot of those throws or all those throws, and you just didn’t make them?
Sellers: I mean, it’s frustrating, but, you know, it’s the first game. You know what I’m saying? You can only get better from there. Still young, still got time, but just need to get better faster.
Question: When you have those conversations with D’Lo, how collaborative is it when it comes to building the offense around the things you’re really good at and comfortable with?
Sellers: Yeah, so he builds the offense around what the quarterback is good at. And then it’s just a lot of talking, communicating. He asks, hey, if you like this better or do you like it from this formation more? Spacing-wise, timing-wise, just everything. It’s just teamwork.
Question: You said that communication is the biggest thing that needs to improve heading into week two. Once that does improve, just how close do you think this offense is to being able to compete the way that you want them to be able to compete?
Sellers: I think it’s real close. It’s always like one thing, like a couple of plays from Saturday, it’s just like one read away or one block away. Just things like that. Once we get all those things squared away, we’ll be fine.
Question: When you were looking at the film, can you give us a couple of specific plays when you looked at it and said, “Hey, you know what, if I didn’t have those jitters, if I’m playing like I know I can play, I would have made that play?”
Sellers: We had a play-action pass. I threw the corner to JB, and we had a route coming over the middle, intermediate route coming over the middle. That was one. It was a couple of plays where my feet just weren’t right, and the ball just died on me. The fumble, of course, was just me hesitating on what I wanted to do when I got to that moment. But other than that…
Question: LaNorris, how excited are you about the chance to be a starter in an SEC game coming up this week? And what have you seen out of Kentucky’s defense so far?
Sellers: I’m very excited. Just ready to get moved on from week one onto week two and then next week after that. Field boundary defense, one-high zone defense, number zero. I’m sure you all know him from last year. Big guy, fast guy, athletic guy. They returned ten starters on defense. They’re a veteran defense, veteran team, honestly. So we got to go there, do our game plan, focus, and execute.
Question: I saw after the game, a lot of guys were coming up to you as you exited the field. I think Luke Doty, Mike Shula, Clayton White. Do you remember what they said to you as you were walking off?
Sellers: They were just saying to me, a win is a win. They were like, “Know you’re a competitor, know you like to play good, and you want to be perfect, but you can’t. Winning is hard at this level.” I’m still young, still got time. They told me to just keep my head on and be happy because a win is a win.
Question: You did a really good job distributing the ball. You had seven different guys that recorded a catch. Two of those guys, Mazeo Bennett and Michael Smith, are true freshmen. What does it say about those guys that they were able to carve out a role so early in their careers?
Sellers: Just being dependable. They’ve been dependable since they got here. Both hardworking guys—Mazio, Mike, Dante—all those guys, they’re always up here. Matt Fuller, just watching film late at night, 9, 10 o’clock during fall camp. They’re doing the same thing. Dante’s asking questions when he can in the QB room. He’s beating himself in it. Mazio, quick learner. Doesn’t make the same mistake twice. And Mike is just a freak athlete.
Question: Do you talk to yourself during games? I feel like you watch QBs mic’d up, and you can kind of hear them be like, “Alright, Joe, you got this.” Do you talk to yourself? Are you kind of quiet?
Sellers: I do sometimes. Not like anything crazy. Just like, “Alright, just calm down. You’re good. You’re good. You’re fine.” Saturday, that’s what I was doing. But other than that, I mean, same thing.
Question: With the helmet communication, are you calling out the blocking to the tight ends and wide receivers, or is that on Vershawn?
Sellers: It just depends, because we can call a protection. If I see something different, I can change the protection. We had a couple of those Saturday, too. So, I mean, it just depends all on the defense.
