What Steve Taneyhill texted LaNorris Sellers following 5 TD performance against Missouri

This week’s guest on Mix in a Water Monday is former South Carolina quarterback Steve Taneyhill. Taneyhill played for the Gamecocks from 1992-95 and owns the record for most touchdown passes in a career (61) and in a season (29).

He’s also just one of eight USC quarterbacks who have ever thrown five or more touchdown passes in a game. Throwing for 8,782 yards in his career, which is the second most by any Gamecock, he led South Carolina to a victory in the 1995 Carquest Bowl, marking the first bowl win in program history.

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Uva: Steve, LaNorris Sellers joined a group that only you and six other Gamecocks can say that they’re a member of — the five touchdown passes in one game club. What was that like to see in person, and what can you say about what you’re seeing from Sellers?

Taneyhill: I’ve just seen him week by week by week just continue to get better and better. Driving down the field to win the game, and having to do it (in that situation)? The five touchdowns are awesome but it’s winning the game in that manner, which is the most important part.

The reason they were able to do that was because of (Sellers)… I’m proud of him. Mike, you’ve been around me leading up to this season and you heard me say that I just thought he was the guy. We continue to watch his progress and there’s no situation that’s too big for him.

Uva: You told me you and Sellers had a brief chat on Sunday. What was the gist of that text exchange and what’s your relationship like with him?

Taneyhill: I met LaNorris back in the summer, and he asked me if we could exchange numbers. I said, “Sure. I’m not in Columbia all the time, but if you ever need anything, you just hit me up.”

I hadn’t texted him all year. I don’t know how them young people these days look at, you know, an old guy like me texting them or anything.

But (on Sunday) morning, I realized that he finished with five touchdowns, so I texted him, “Hey, welcome to the five touchdowns in one game passing club. That was a great last drive. Continue to be a leader, and congrats on the win.”

He responded back to me saying, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Uva: I want to hear more about your thoughts on Sellers’ development but before I do, I want to ask you about the game-winning shovel pass because that was a staple for you in the 90s. As you’ve told me, you typically stay at your tailgate spot for games. But this past weekend, you decided to go to the game.

Taneyhill: Oh yeah. We ran that and it was always Stanley Pritchett getting it. Coach (Brad) Scott brought that to South Carolina in 1994. We ran it a lot in ’94 and we ran it a lot in ’95. It just always seemed to work.

To see them run that play in that situation, what that tells me is that (the defense) really respects LaNorris. Back then, they weren’t expecting me to run. I wasn’t going to run anywhere.

But that play could be a staple with this offense because it’s tough to defend with his ability to run the ball. We saw that the other night and it led to them scoring. I said to myself, “Wow. We used to do that play 20 to 30 years ago.” So, to see him throw his fifth touchdown pass on a shovel in person to win it was special.

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Uva: What have you seen from him from week one to where he is now?

Taneyhill: If you go back to Week 1 or even Week 2 and Week 3, the one thing he trusted the most then was his legs. I never had that problem, but I have had quarterbacks that I’ve coached throughout high school who trusted their athletic ability. He’s gotten more comfortable when he’s out there.

Uva: How has that changed what you’ve seen with how the offense is being called?

Taneyhill: We’ve kind of expanded a little bit more. (Saturday) is really the first time we threw the ball to wide receivers over the middle on crossing routes. We also actually threw it deep on that first touchdown. We caught them in a corner blitz and the corner didn’t get there in time. Either LaNorris saw him coming off the corner or it was something that he noticed that they like to do during film study leading up to the game. But again, we pushed the ball downfield, and we hadn’t done that all year. We don’t throw the ball deep and (on Saturday) we did it a few times.

Uva: This is more of a rhetorical question but why is it important to take those deeper shots?

Taneyhill: When you do that the defense has to back up some. That’s when you can use those crossers and then screens. We love the screen. But if you’re pushing the ball down the field some it works a lot better. We were able to score a touchdown off of it.

I like the progress of (Nyck) Harbor. He’s coming along and he’s a weapon.

But everything comes down to that quarterback and feeling more comfortable. I think we’ve seen it. You know, as the season goes on, he’s either more comfortable in the offense and understands maybe what us as fans don’t see. Or, he’s just more confident in his teammates. He’s showing so much progress from week to week.

Uva: In your opinion, where does some of that confidence come from?

Taneyhill: He’s tough. He’s mentally tough. You saw it against Missouri. He throws an interception on the third series of the game, but he comes back out there and throws four more touchdowns to finish with five in total. You have to have some mental toughness if you’re going to be able to do that.

He’s playing well at the right time of the year. Like I said, and I’m going to keep on saying it, he’s gotten better every week. He’s a kid. He’s what? Like 19 years old? He’s a redshirt freshman. He’ll continue to improve over these next two years.

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Uva: One thing that stood out to me was that all five of his touchdown passes went to five different receivers. Nine different players caught passes on his 21 completions. Is there something to be said about that when a quarterback is distributing the ball like that?

Taneyhill: No question. There were guys catching the ball last night, and I had to turn to the guy beside me and ask, “Who is that?” I didn’t know who some of the guys were because of how well we were using our tight ends and wide receivers… When you see the ball spread out everywhere, that means he’s worked the whole field…

Last year, we had Xavier (Legette), and we could throw him a 5-yard slant and every time he caught it. This group is different, but they’re progressing. We saw that on Saturday with some of the big plays they made and their ability to break tackles.

The other thing, too, is LaNorris is doing this with guys who he’s still new with. I had a couple guys that I played three years with and you trust them because you’ve developed that trust. That allows you as a quarterback to take some more shots. Think back to last season. Spencer (Rattler) trusted Xavier. On some of their plays last year, most wideouts probably aren’t making some of those plays. But that’s why he ended up being a first-round draft pick.

Uva: You mention trust. What can a game-winning drive like that by Sellers do for the trust he’s continuing to earn from from his coaches and his teammates?

Taneyhill: When you go into the meeting room to watch film and you watch your quarterback just give up his body, take shots, extend plays by running around and is do everything he can to try to win the game, guys will quickly trust him. That’s instant. It creates this mindset of, “This guy is one of us. This guy is our guy.” It also creates confidence, knowing that regardless of the situation, nothing is too big for him. That makes a big difference.

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