LaNorris Sellers has a path to a South Carolina record, but it’s not a simple one.
The Gamecocks quarterback still has two years of eligibility left, though the expectation is that he’ll likely play just one more season before heading to the NFL. That leaves him with a handful of possible milestones, including the chance to become the first quarterback to guide South Carolina to the College Football Playoff. The most realistic individual target, though, may be the program’s career rushing mark for a quarterback.
That record belongs to Connor Shaw, who piled up 1,683 rushing yards from 2010-13 while averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Sellers is already on the board with 995 rushing yards across 27 career games, and he’s averaging 3.1 yards per carry.
The challenge for Sellers isn’t just his own running ability. It’s the yardage lost when the pocket breaks down.
Some of that comes from his own mistakes, whether that’s holding the ball too long or making a poor decision. But plenty of it has also come from the players around him.
As a redshirt freshman, Sellers lost 235 rushing yards to sacks. Last year, that number jumped to 358.
Altogether, he’s been charged with 593 lost rushing yards because of quarterback sacks. That total obviously won’t disappear, but it also shouldn’t be anywhere near that high in 2025.
Shaw’s final season offers a more manageable comparison. In 2013, he lost 159 rushing yards on sacks. Whether Sellers can match Shaw’s awareness and decision-making entering his fourth year is a fair question, but that kind of number would at least give him a much cleaner runway.
So what does Sellers actually need? He has to gain 689 rushing yards this season to pass Shaw. If he were to lose the same amount of sack yardage Shaw did in his last year, which would be a major improvement from where he was a season ago, then he’d need 848 rushing yards gained.
That’s a steep climb.
For context, Raheim Sanders rushed for 881 net yards in 2024, and he’s the only running back in a non-Covid year to reach that total since Mike Davis in 2014.
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Why South Carolina Fans Are Suddenly Debating This Beamer Hire
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Greg McElroys praise at SEC Media Days only sharpened the debate, because the former Alabama quarterback and ESPN analyst framed Briles as one of the offseasons best hires. The appeal is easy to understand: a simpler system, a clearer fit for the personnel, and a chance to get more out of South Carolinas passing game. For fans, the real question is whether that promise shows up quickly enough to matter, and whether Briles can turn the optimism around LaNorris Sellers and the receivers into something more tangible once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
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Garcia said the response has reached former teammates, fans and even people outside the program, a sign of how wide the circle has grown around him. He also noted that his next stretch of treatment is still ahead, with surgery part of the road to come, but the outpouring around him has already become its own kind of lift for a former Gamecock who once gave this fan base plenty to remember. [Read more 🡒]