South Carolina Football: 7 questions for the Gamecocks as spring practice begins
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football's 7 Spring Practice Questions:
How will Dowell Loggains' offense change with LaNorris Sellers?
LaNorris Sellers is the starting quarterback for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Shane Beamer all but made that announcement earlier this offseason. Even with Robby Ashford and Davis Beville transferring in for competition, Sellers is the guy unless he proves himself not to be the guy.
But he is a different style of quarterback than his predecessor, Spencer Rattler.
While Rattler was a pocket passer who possessed enough athleticism to make some things happen, Sellers is a true dual-threat quarterback. At 6'3" and 240 pounds, the redshirt freshman has been clocked in the 4.5s in the 40-yard dash and was rumored to be in the 4.4s last season.
The offense won't look the same as the pass-heavy scheme offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains employed last year, but it's not just because of the quarterback spot. The Gamecocks could not run the football consistently at all in 2023, and with a (hopefully) healthier offensive line and more talent in the running back room after adding Rocket Sanders, Oscar Adaway, and Jawarn Howell, Carolina is going to try to utilize the ground game.
Bringing in Shawn Elliott to serve as the run game coordinator has instilled confidence in the fan base as the previous time he was in that position (2010-2015), the Gamecocks had their best rushing attack of the modern era. LaNorris Sellers could play a similar role to Stephen Garcia and Connor Shaw from those offenses (2010-2013).
Last year, USC ran 452 pass plays (including sacks but not including Spencer Rattler scrambles, so the number is actually higher) compared to 328 non-sack rushing attempts. Those passing plays accounted for over 3x as many yards as the running plays as South Carolina football threw for 278 yards per game but rushed for 85 yards per game.
Those numbers are sure to be more balanced this fall, but fans will have their first chance this spring to see just how drastic the changes might be.