Shane Beamer not ready to name starting QB but happy with LaNorris Sellers' performance
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers was presented the Joe Morrison Offensive Player of the Spring Award at halftime of the Garnet and Black Spring Game Saturday as he wrapped up what offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains called a solid and consistent spring for the redshirt freshman.
But despite the Gamecocks’ big, dynamic signal-caller continuing to be the perceived favorite for the job, head coach Shane Beamer was not ready to name a starter in the quarterback competition, though he did hint that the players would have a strong understanding of their current position within the next few days.
“No, I know when you see him get an award at halftime it’s easy to say ‘okay well he got an award surely he’s going to be the starting quarterback,’” Beamer said when asked if he was ready to name a starter. “Those are all that we’ll sit down (and discuss), obviously we evaluate all 15 practices and he did a good job tonight. So to answer your question no., I’ll watch the tape of this, we’ll sit down and start player meetings with our guys Monday morning at 7 a.m. with players in my office for the next three days. I’ll have those conversations with the staff and those players as far as where their role is and then go from there.”
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Sellers took the first rep of the spring with the first team, but has been in an open quarterback competition that includes Robby Ashford, Davis Beville, and Dante Reno — Luke Doty has also played some QB but spent more of the spring at receiver.
In Saturday’s game, the Florence native completed 9-of-11 passes for 70 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He added 38 rushing yards on five carries, and most importantly looked to be in command of the Gamecock offense.
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“I thought LaNorris was really, really good,” Beamer said. “He has been good all spring. … I thought he just looked very very poised out there, very efficient, he looked good running the ball. Those defensive guys were yelling at me the entire first half that they thought a lot of those runs would have been sacks, they were mad that I didn’t blow the whistle. I thought he did a really good job just operating the offense, running when it presented itself and being able to make throws also.”
Despite Sellers’ impressive spring, South Carolina has not seemed to be in a major rush to name a starter and Loggains spoke last week about the pros and cons of naming a starter early versus entertaining a continued competition into fall camp.
Sellers, for his part, has taken it all in stride.
“I think it’s a competition,” Sellers said Saturday.. “I just gotta really work on me, do my job, make sure everything’s right going with me. I’m not worried about everything else, like the outside talking stuff. So, just focusing on me and just getting better every day.”
