GAINESVILLE - South Carolina finally got the version of LaNorris Sellers it had been waiting for, and it showed up in a major way inside the Swamp.
Sellers piled up five total touchdowns, four of them through the air, and the Gamecocks rolled past No. 16 Florida 38-19 on Saturday to snap an eight-game SEC losing streak. It was the kind of night South Carolina had been chasing all season from its quarterback, and it was easily Sellers’ sharpest performance in nearly two years.
“He was a freaking dude today,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said after the win, one that also stopped a string of blown chances in league play. “Some of the throws in tight windows, running the ball, just poised, confident.”
Sellers finished 23 of 35 for 279 yards and hit Nyck Harbor, Mazeo Bennett Jr., Donovan Murph and Lex Cyrus for touchdowns. Against Florida’s struggling pass defense, he kept finding answers, and South Carolina kept cashing them in.
The game’s defining moment came on a 3-yard Sellers run in the third quarter. He brushed off a defender on the way to the goal line and nearly scored on the play before punching it in on the next snap. That drive helped put the game out of reach for the Gamecocks, who improved to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the SEC.
South Carolina’s last league win had come against Kentucky in September 2025. Beamer’s group had also coughed up four major leads in its previous five SEC games, but this one never slipped away. The Gamecocks also won in Gainesville for the first time since 2014.
For Sellers, it marked his best outing since he threw five touchdowns against Missouri in November 2024.
“I knew when I signed up to play this position when I was a young kid. I knew you get all the hate and you get all the love when we’re playing good,” Sellers said. “It’s just going to come with it.”
Florida came in as a double-digit home favorite and left with a second straight lopsided loss. After getting hammered 45-17 at then-No.
25 Missouri, the Gators were supposed to bounce back. Instead, they were overwhelmed again and are likely headed out of the AP Top 25.
“We’ve lost two games, man,” Florida linebacker Aaron Chiles said. “I don’t believe it’s the end of the world.”
South Carolina took control with two touchdown drives in the third quarter, a welcome change after the Gamecocks’ recent third-quarter breakdowns. The scoring burst came after a 45-minute lightning delay stretched halftime, and South Carolina made the most of the extra time by attacking Florida’s shaky secondary.
Beamer’s relief was obvious once the final whistle blew. He hugged both of his kids after the win.
“I get it; what comes with the jobs, and we haven’t been good enough,” I was a 2-3 football coach coming into this game that had blown leads and lost three SEC games in a row. I get the criticism.
I do. But it’s hard on your families because they don’t sign up for it.”
Florida had few answers on offense or defense. The Gators couldn’t run the ball with any consistency, as Jadan Baugh carried 15 times for 59 yards and added a garbage-time touchdown. Aaron Philo turned it over twice, and the defense never generated enough heat on Sellers to slow South Carolina down.
The frustration spilled over to the sideline, where Jon Sumrall drew boos for the first time since taking over in Gainesville. Fans were especially upset with his clock management before halftime, when Florida ran out of time and then missed a long field goal.
“Disappointing football,” Sumrall said. “No excuse for it.
Not many words that are going to make any of it right. ... I’m frustrated with every part of what we did today.”
South Carolina also got a boost from Dylan Stewart, who returned from a one-game suspension and forced two fumbles. Stewart had been suspended for throwing a punch at an Alabama player two weeks ago and missed last week’s overtime loss to Kentucky.
There were injury issues on both sides. South Carolina starting cornerback Judge Collier left in the first half with a concussion. Florida backup running back Duke Clark hobbled to the locker room just before halftime, and the Gators were again without leading receiver Vernell Brown III because of a knee injury.
For South Carolina, this was the kind of performance Beamer had been demanding and the kind the Gamecocks have been waiting to see. For Florida, the problems looked bigger than one bad night. Both lines need work, the secondary was exposed, and the Gators were left with more questions than answers.
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