Alabama’s defense is walking into its toughest assignment yet, and Kane Wommack knows exactly where the spotlight is aimed.
South Carolina comes to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night at 6 p.m. on ESPN, and the Crimson Tide defensive coordinator isn’t pretending this is just another week. After Florida State piled up 471 yards and ripped off nine plays of 20 yards or more, Wommack called that pass defense the “worst” he has seen since arriving in the program three years ago. Now the Tide have to turn the page fast, because the Gamecocks bring a quarterback who has already given Alabama plenty to think about.
“We've got a great opponent in South Carolina,” Wommack said Monday. “Their offense right now is highly efficient and explosive.”
That efficiency starts with LaNorris Sellers, a quarterback Alabama has spent the last two seasons trying to corral. In the 2024 meeting, Sellers completed 23 of 31 passes for 238 yards with two touchdowns and one interception as Alabama rallied for a 27-25 win. In the 2025 matchup, he went 18 of 32 for 222 yards with a touchdown and an interception while also adding 18 carries for 67 yards and a rushing score in another Tide victory, 29-22.
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer had already pointed to Sellers as a problem back before last year’s game, after studying a cut-up with the defensive staff.
“Watched a cut-up this morning with the defensive staff, and it's just one play after the other,” DeBoer said. “There was more.
We didn't even need to see it all because the point was very clear, and we've gotta make sure our guys continue to rally. We've faced running backs and guys that are tough to bring down, but this guy touches the ball every single play.
So, you can get to him. That's one thing.
But you also, now, gotta get him down. It's not gonna be just one.
It's gotta take multiple guys rallying, coming from different directions. He's got the speed.
He's got the size. He's just, he's super strong.
He's a relentless player. He fights for every yard he can get.”
Wommack said that same week, “This is obviously a very dangerous quarterback in LaNorris Sellers,” adding, “(He) does some great things in the passing game, very hard to tackle. Almost never gets tackled and brought down by the first guy, anybody that can create and extend plays with his feet is certainly going to present challenges.”
The numbers through three weeks show why Alabama is still keyed in on him. Sellers has completed 54 of 86 passes for 648 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions, while also running 23 times for 172 yards and a rushing touchdown. He’s coming off a rougher outing in South Carolina’s Week 3 home loss to Mississippi State, when he threw for 250 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, but Wommack made it clear the quarterback is still the focal point.
“LaNorris Sellers is running the ball as good as I have seen him in three years and he is also creating a lot of explosives in the passing game with a very athletic receiving core,” Wommack said this week. “So we'll have a great challenge for us.
As always, it's about us. And looking forward to getting back out on the field in Bryant-Denny on Saturday.”
The rest of Alabama’s defense is preparing for the same headache. Safety Keon Sabb said South Carolina’s offense brings “unique challenges,” and he singled out Nyck Harbor, Sellers, the offensive line and the running backs as the key pieces.
“I feel like they bring there all unique challenges and I feel like we are ready for them,” Sabb said. “The first time I saw (Sellers), I think he was a freshman or something like that.
He has continued to grow as a player and as a person. I feel like he has gotten better through the years and so have we, so I am looking forward to the matchup.”
When asked whether the Gamecocks resemble Florida State, Sabb said, “There are some of shades in both, but obviously two different teams and schemes,” before adding, “I feel like they are a good squad.”
Sophomore linebacker Justin Hill gave a similar read on Sellers, calling him a “Big, athletic, big arm, smart guy” and adding, “You know, he's the whole package. It's going to be a great deal for our defense to go against him. I played him last year as a freshman and he was a stud, so it will be fun to play against him, for sure.”
Hill also described South Carolina as “Pretty fast team with the receivers and a powerful (running) back,” and said Alabama will need to be ready from the opening snaps. “Physical. We are going to have to be physical in the beginning of the game and really just wear them down, for sure.”
Wommack, meanwhile, pointed to what he liked from the Florida State game, especially against a mobile quarterback. He said Alabama’s front “continues to show up at a high level,” and credited the linebackers and secondary for being “very efficient and very, very physical” outside of two early explosive runs. He also said the Tide “were also able to affect the quarterback in the passing game” by getting to him three times.
Still, Wommack said the defense has room to clean up. He took responsibility for a late red-zone touchdown, saying, “which was my fault.
I should have put a spy on him in that situation when we were in that coverage. So that is completely on me.”
His bigger concern was the plays Alabama gave up without forcing the quarterback into scramble mode.
“They were all on-tempo throws that we gave up,” Wommack said. “From a pass rush standpoint, I think we're still taking steps in the right direction there.”
Now comes the next test, and it’s another one built around a quarterback who can hurt a defense in more ways than one. Wommack called it a “great challenge,” and Saturday night will show how Alabama handles it.
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