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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina has a once-in-a-generation talent at its quarterback position this season, with a panel of scouts suggesting LaNorris Sellers is destined to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Florence native has size, speed, elusiveness… and a deadly accurate cannon for an arm. Sellers flashed his brilliance during the Gamecocks loss to No. 23 Missouri on Saturday evening, demonstrating both his accuracy and arm strength.
Unfortunately for Gamecock fans, he also demonstrated that even superhuman talents cannot thrive if one’s teammates lose the war in the trenches – and if one’s running backs fail to find holes or protect him during the passing game.
To be selected first overall… Sellers must first survive the year. And with a brutal gauntlet of opponents looming, that’s no sure thing given the porous nature of his offensive line and the absolutely nonexistent contributions of the Gamecocks’ running game.
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Sellers was pressured 27 times and sacked five times by Mizzou Saturday night – while the Gamecock run game went backward, registering -9 yards on the ground. That was the worst rushing performance by a South Carolina team in 44 years – dating back to a 42-28 loss to Dan Marino‘s Pitt Panthers in 1981.
On paper, the onus falls on former South Carolina interim head coach Shawn Elliott – who is the team’s “ground game coordinator” as well as its tight ends coach. Elliott, a former offensive line coach, is in his second year in these roles after spending seven middling years as the head coach at Georgia State.
Third-year coach Lonnie Teasley is responsible for the offensive line, while Mike Shula is in his first full season as offensive coordinator. Shula is the coach who calls the plays on offense.
Through four games, South Carolina is averaging just 300.5 yards per game – which ranks No. 121 out of 134 FBS programs. The team is averaging 22.2 points per game – which ranks No. 92 nationally (although it’s worth recalling they’ve benefitted from four non-offensive touchdowns so far this year).
Through the air, the Gamecocks rank toward the middle of the heap – amassing 220.2 yards per game (good for No. 74 nationally). The problem is on the ground – where South Carolina currently ranks No. 128 nationally, averaging an anemic 80.2 yards per game.
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Hey @GamecockFB: Time to have a serious conversation about @CoachSElliott. When your “ground game coordinator” produces NEGATIVE nine rushing yards in a game his unit entered ranked No. 117 out of 134 FBS programs… yeah. It’s time for a change. pic.twitter.com/zkNVFysJRV
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) September 21, 2025
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No other team in the SEC is that bad moving the football on the ground. And only six other teams are worse nationally. If South Carolina’s running backs were excelling in the passing game – or in pass protection – that would be one thing. But… they’re not.
The truly frightening part? South Carolina is in the midst of what was supposed to be the easiest part of its 2025 schedule. With matchups looming against No. 4 LSU (October 11 in Baton Rouge), No. 7 Oklahoma (at home on October 18), No. 9 Texas A&M (in College Station on November 15), No. 13 Ole Miss (in Oxford on November 1) and No. 17 Alabama (at home on October 25), the outlines of a potential disaster are on the horizon. That is, unless head coach Shane Beamer and his staff are able to make the necessary adjustments.
Or, unless there’s new staff…
Can the program turn things around? Certainly. The Gamecocks were positively unspooling last season prior to reeling off six straight victories and nearly making the College Football Playoff (CFP).
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But a football team’s inability to run the ball is a compound failure – and right now there’s nothing to indicate Beamer’s staff has a solution. Not only is a nonexistent running game debilitating in its own right, it limits the effectiveness of the passing game – and makes Sellers one dimensional. Opponents are able to tee off on him (as Missouri did) while dropping additional players back into coverage assignments. Additionally, it places tremendous pressure on a team’s defensive unit as the offense is unable to sustain drives – forcing the defense to play numerous additional snaps.
Not surprisingly, South Carolina currently ranks fourth-to-last nationally (No. 130) in time of possession, holding the ball for an average of just over 25 minutes per game.
Adding insult to injury, Beamer’s team is also one of the most undisciplined units in the country, tied for No. 129 nationally with 37 penalties through four games (and currently ranked No. 122 nationally with 282 total penalty yards).
None of that is sustainable for a team hoping to make a bowl game… let alone compete for a CFP berth.
South Carolina entered the 2025 campaign with high hopes… and as recently as two weeks ago was a Top Ten program (thanks to Sellers). Expectations always shift during the first few games of a season, but few Gamecock fans expected the program to fall so far, so fast.
Can Beamer and his staff reorient the program’s trajectory and replicate last year’s miraculous stretch run? Maybe… but right now the only consolation for long-suffering South Carolina fans is that their Clemson counterparts are even more miserable than they are.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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4 comments
Considering the dismal starts of the much vaunted Carolina and Clemson football teams, one might consider the only undefeated college football team in the state, Presbyterian College. The Blue Hose stand at 4-0 after a 73-3 victory this past Saturday. This is from a school that does not give athletic scholarships and pays its coaches less than $100,000 s year. Compare that per win to the $11 million plus and $8 million plus that Dabo and Shane rake in.
Football at USC generated $78 million in revenue with a profit of $31 million in 2024. PC almost broke even (generated $1.4 million, spent 1.4 million).
While I disagree that universities should even be in the business of being the minor leagues for professional sports, you can’t argue with the fact that Shane and “Datboy” make money for their universities. PC is doing well but they’re last opponent was a small private school with about 851 students (PC has 1,200). In fact, USC’s freshman class is almost the same size as their opponent’s undergrad student populations combined.
My comment was somewhat “tongue in cheek,” but I would offer this. No doubt football at Carolina generates millions of dollars in revenue and profit, as you point out. Shane and Dabo do indeed “make money for their universities.” The money continually rolls in from ticket sales, contributions, and TV and conference-related sources. But when has it not? It is built in. Does it really matter who the coach is from a financial standpoint? When Lou Holtz went 0-11 in 1999, attendance still averaged over 78,000 a game and the conference contributions dropped not one penny. One might argue that lowly PC gets a much greater return, at least this year and in fan satisfaction, from its coaching staff than Carolina.
Sellers will be next drafts Sanders… he hasn’t shown shit this year except how to take sacks 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Odds are he will skip the draft and join the portal along with any other halfway decent player on the team. If you think this team is a shitshow, just “Wait ’til next year!!!”.