South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers had a perfect true freshman season, literally. In 2023, Sellers saw action in just three games, in two of them, he didn't even attempt a pass, and in the third, he went 4-for-4 for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
Now, a year later, in his redshirt freshman season, Sellers is 136-for-217 for 1,803 yards, 14 touchdowns, five interceptions, 436 rushing yards, and four rushing touchdowns. Head coach Shane Beamer took a chance on the young quarterback, and so far, it has paid off immensely. Of course, there have been growing pains, but Sellers is a young guy, and if he is able to show what he has this early, he has a bright future.
During South Carolina's four-game win streak, Sellers has been the catalyst in bringing the Gamecocks back into the Top 25 and back into College Football Playoff contention. CBS Sports has released its quarterback rankings each week and Sellers has found himself not just in the rankings, but near the top.
.@TomFornelli's QB power rankings heading into Week 13 👀@CUBuffsFootball's Shedeur Sanders is the new No. 1 📈
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 20, 2024
Full breakdown 🔗 https://t.co/ToQr9BO5kj pic.twitter.com/dmxIxkuX9i
In the last four games, Sellers has thrown for 1,010 yards and 10 touchdowns with only one interception. He has also been useful in the ground game with 217 yards and one touchdown and has had an average QBR of 75.45 over that span of games.
Sellers is ahead of quarterbacks who have a better record than him, have been playing a lot longer than him, and possibly even have a better roster around them. Key names that Sellers is higher than are Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, and Clemson's Cade Klubnik, who have a combined three losses, the same number of losses that Sellers has.
South Carolina has a job to do in the final two games of the season and Sellers will have to be the one to lead the charge. The Gamecocks need to win their final two games against Wofford at home and then at Clemson, which should be a ranked matchup that could have huge College Football Playoff implications riding on it.
Sellers has led this team tremendously in their four-game winning streak, including his best game against Missouri, where he threw five touchdowns. He needs to build off that and go get his team into the playoffs.