LaNorris Sellers didn't need a Heisman moment to showcase his value in South Carolina's 24-11 win over Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon. Even so, he gave Gamecock fans plenty to chew on after throwing for 209 yards and two touchdowns while adding his trademark physical runs. After the game in Atlanta, the sophomore quarterback shared his thoughts on the performance, his connection to Nyck Harbor, and how the team handled adversity.
Question: It felt like a total team game from everybody today.
Sellers: Oh, yeah, we just preach on playing complementary football, like special teams picking up the offense, offense picking up defense, defense-offense, vice-versa. I think we did a good job of that today.
Question: Can you take us through the deep ball to Nyck Harbor? How long have you been wanting to pull that one out?
Sellers: (It’s) been a staple in our offense pretty much. We just like that it just has an answer versus pretty much everything. It’s kind of like we’ve been banking on we don’t know what we’re going to come out and do, but it’s a good play. It has everything. So, I mean, when we got it, the safety came down, we just knew we had it.
Question: How do you think the freshmen played in their first game today?
Sellers: I’m glad they weren’t shell-shocked or anything. It’s a new environment for them, in front of a lot more people than they have in high school. I think they did pretty good for their first game.
Question: All off-season. Nyck Harbor has talked about how he’s grown in his first full offseason dedicated to football. What have you seen from him, and what was it like to see him have a big-time performance today?
Sellers: Consistent growth, honestly. He’s putting in the work for it. Glad he’s coming out there to shine. He had a full offseason with me and the offense, just being out there running routes. He’s more comfortable catching the ball. He just looks more natural.
Question: Talk about the first drive.
Sellers: We just came out of the gate and said we’re going straight at them. That’s pretty much what we did. We’ve got to keep up, keep doing that.
Question: After all the offseason hype, how gratifying is it to you that you have some game-winning plays and you got a big victory on national television here in Atlanta?
Sellers: I mean, it always feels good to get a win. It’s a hard win; that’s a good team. A lot of tradition and history in that program. Just to go out, fight like we did, (and) come through in the fourth quarter. It just felt good.
Question: Were y’all taken off guard by anything that they did on defense? After that first drive, y’all struggled a little bit offensively. What did you sense the problems were?
Sellers: The first part is just, we knew going into the game we’re just going to have to have answers for everything they had. He came from Arizona last year, so we looked at a bunch of three-high stuff. That’s what Illinois did that we had some problems with. We knew they were a three-deep sone team, a lot of field pressure, stuff like that, maybe bring some boundary pressure every now and then. A lot of stuff that we had; we just had answers versus all of that in particular plays. And then the struggling part, I mean, it’s just football. You’re going to have some ups and downs, but you’ve got to keep going, keep pushing through and fighting.
Question: Towards the end of the game, you had a couple of now-vintage LaNorris Sellers plays, where guys are flying off you. When that’s happening, what’s going through your mind?
Sellers: Um, it’s a mixture of things, really. Like, if I break this tackle, who else is coming? Y’all saw they got me on the sack earlier and hit me right in the face, so just looking around for those guys. If there are more guys coming, get down. But if it’s one guy or he’s a pretty good distance away, try to stay up and break it. But, got-to-have-it moments, (Mike Shula) told me before he called it, we’re running you right here. Protect the ball and end the game. That’s what I went and did.
Question: When do you know that you’re ready to take off and run, and how does that open up the game for you?
Sellers: It opens it up a lot. It gives them a lot that they have to take into account for. We can throw it deep, obviously, and we’ve got a good run game with the running backs. We can spit stuff out quick. It’s a lot to prepare for. We’ve got a triple option, all of that. It’s a lot to prepare for.
Question: Were you watching Vicari Swain’s return, and can you take me through what you saw?
Sellers: We knew they had the penalty or whatever, so we could take the five yards, but with Beamer and Joe D, they’re going to gamble on special teams every time. I’m like, they’re going to make him return it. Vicari makes plays all the time. At corner or he played some receiver in the summer with us just playing around. He’s an all-around athlete. To let him go out there and do that was good to see. Everybody in the building knows he can do that. A lot of people didn’t know he had that in him, but we knew since he got here.
Question: On your first touchdown run, it looked like you could have avoided the defender and scored. Were you intentionally trying to run him over?
Sellers: No, I probably could have gone right, but when I was gonna go right, he jumped right, and when I went left, he jumped left, so I was kind of like, it’s right there. Just go through him.