South Carolina coach Shane Beamer recently received a text from an SEC coach praising freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers. The message said, “You’ve got ‘Superman’ back there.”
While Sellers may not be “Superman,” he has certainly been making a big impact for No. 23 South Carolina. He showed that again on Saturday night in a 34-30 win over No. 24 Missouri, with a career-best performance.
Sellers, a redshirt freshman who took over the starting quarterback role from NFL rookie Spencer Rattler, threw for 353 yards and five touchdowns.
The last touchdown came with 15 seconds left when Sellers threw a pass to Raheim Sanders, who took it 15 yards for the winning score. This was the second time the Gamecocks rallied from behind in the fourth quarter.
One play in particular left South Carolina defensive tackle Alex Huntley in awe. Sellers avoided a sack during the Gamecocks’ next-to-last scoring drive and then completed an 11-yard pass to tight end Brady Hunt on third-and-10.
“Did he get sacked?” Huntley recalled asking. “The second he got out of it, I knew something good was going to happen,” he said.
Sellers has been making plays like that more and more lately, especially after South Carolina was 3-3 following a loss to Alabama on October 12. Since then, Sellers has led the Gamecocks to victories over Oklahoma (35-9), Texas A&M (44-20), and Vanderbilt (28-7).
“It’s about staying calm, not budging, not flinching,” Sellers said. “Taking one play at a time and not worrying about the outcome.”
That calmness helped South Carolina win a game they might have lost in the past. Twice in the fourth quarter, Missouri took the lead, but Sellers and the Gamecocks quickly answered both times.
South Carolina (7-3, 5-3) has now won four straight SEC games, the first time the Gamecocks have done that since 2012 under coach Steve Spurrier. Now, Beamer, one of Spurrier’s hires, has South Carolina playing their best football in years.
Missouri (7-3, 3-3) took its last lead with 1:10 left after Brady Cook threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Luther Burden III, putting the Tigers up 30-27. But Sellers wasn’t finished.
He connected on passes of 10 and 39 yards to bring the Gamecocks to Missouri’s 21-yard line. After a 7-yard run by Sellers, he handed the ball to Sanders, who powered into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
“We were scoring,” said Sanders, who has scored six of his 11 rushing touchdowns during the Gamecocks’ four-game win streak. Sanders is known as “Rocket” and transferred from Arkansas.
Missouri had one last chance, but Cook was intercepted by Jalon Kilgore with five seconds left, sealing the win for South Carolina. This victory marked the first time in program history that South Carolina defeated three consecutive ranked teams.
Missouri’s Nate Noel ran for 150 yards and had a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to win the game.
The Tigers had defeated Oklahoma 30-23 the previous week, thanks to a scoop-and-score fumble with 22 seconds left. Missouri almost pulled off another dramatic finish, but this time, the Gamecocks were too much for them.
“I just think there’s a relentlessness that our team plays with, believes in,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “Just didn’t have enough tonight.”
