5 major storylines coming out of the South Carolina football team's Bye week
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football's Post-Bye Week Storylines to Watch:
Health and Availability
As a whole, Shane Beamer's squad has been extremely healthy in 2024. However, the past couple of weeks have seen a handful of impactful Gamecocks suffer minor injuries.
Quarterback LaNorris Sellers (ankle, hip), running back Rocket Sanders (ankle), wide receiver Jared Brown (hamstring, ankle), wide receiver Gage Larvadain (undisclosed), tight end Michael Smith (hamstring), linebacker Bangally Kamara (undisclosed), defensive lineman TJ Sanders (foot), defensive lineman Monkell Goodwine (undisclosed), EDGE Bryan Thomas, Jr. (undisclosed), and defensive back Emory Floyd (lower-body) are all two-deep players who have missed all or large parts of games with injuries.
Sellers, Brown, and Kamara missed South Carolina's game against Akron, TJ Sanders, Gage Larvadain, and Floyd returned for that game after being hurt previously, and Rocket Sanders, Smith, and Goodwine all left Saturday's contest after getting banged up.
How healthy each of these players will be when next Saturday rolls around will be huge factors in the Gamecocks' pursuit of an upset over Ole Miss.
Arguably the two most impactful players among the injured are quarterback LaNorris Sellers and running back Rocket Sanders.
When Sellers went out for a short stretch against Kentucky and then missed most of the LSU game and all of the Akron game, Robby Ashford was his replacement. The two players are comparable runners, but Sellers has a stronger arm and appears more comfortable in the pocket. Even if Sellers is ready to go against Ole Miss, it wouldn't be surprising to see Ashford get a few snaps, especially after he played well against Akron last Saturday.
For Sanders, Oscar Adaway and Juju McDowell handled most of the non-garbage time running back duties while the starter was out. Both Adaway and McDowell can offer production, but Sanders is a former All-American for a reason. If he is healthy, the South Carolina offense will be better off because of it.