South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers finished with 124 passing yards and the Gamecocks' lone touchdown in Saturday's 26-7 loss to Oklahoma, but frustration was evident as the offense once again failed to connect. Speaking after the game, Sellers didn't shy away from the reality that South Carolina's offensive issues go beyond just pass protection.
“Yeah, I mean that’s frustrating,” Sellers said when asked about the constant pressure from the Sooners’ defense. “We’ve all got stuff to work on, not just them, but receivers, quarterbacks, running backs, it’s all of us. We’ve got to get better.”
Sellers said the Gamecocks tried to adjust the game plan this week to get the ball out quicker and reduce the hits he's been taking in recent weeks. “We opened it up a little bit more with quick routes, a couple screen passes,” he said. “We knew they would be aggressive rushing, so we tried to implement some quick choice routes and slants.”
Still, the offense sputtered once again, with Sellers pointing to inconsistency and a lack of finishing drives as the main issue. “We just haven’t been consistent,” Sellers said. “We get stuff going, but we’ve got to finish. We drove down the field that first drive and stalled, we can’t let that happen.”
Despite the mounting frustration, Sellers said the team still believes it can turn things around for the remaining stretch of games. “All it takes is one,” he said. “Last year, the Oklahoma game was the one that sprung us on that run. All it takes is one.”
Sellers also credited Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables' defense for creating constant pressure and confusion along the line of scrimmage. He said, "Brent does a good job with his scheme; they’re first in everything, we had to stay on the field, make good plays, make good decisions, spit the ball out when it’s there, and when they get soft, run the ball.”
With a tough stretch of five games left in the regular season, South Carolina continues to search for the spark that could possibly salvage the season.