LaNorris Sellers has the weight of a program on his shoulders. Think about it: He ran out to “2001” on Saturday afternoon with 80,000 sets of eyes staring at him — 80,000 people whose happiness will partly revolve around what he did that day and what he’ll do this year.
Last week, Sellers said he dreamed about starting for South Carolina. What those dreams likely didn’t include: Receivers dropping passes, poor footwork, overthrowing receivers and facing a fourth-quarter deficit against a Sun Belt team.
Dreams don’t usually involve hardship, and hardship doesn’t define a person.
Sellers, who as a kid didn’t stop eating and eventually grew to 6-foot-3 and 242 pounds, is only 19 years old. He walked off the Williams-Brice Stadium field avoiding the catastrophe of a loss, but also knowing that the reality didn’t match his dreams.
As he walked off the turf, a number of folks spoke with him — people who understand that college football had just humbled Sellers and who needed to tell him that’s OK.
Wide receiver Luke Doty, defensive coordinator Clayton White and offensive assistant Mike Shula were a few who put their arms around Sellers .
“They were like, ‘We know you’re a competitor. We know you like to play good and you want to be perfect. But you can’t (be). Winning is hard at this level. You’re young. You have time,’ ” Sellers said of those conversations. “They just told me to keep my head up and be happy because a win is a win.”
As a starting quarterback, Sellers is 1-0. Over the past three days, he’s probably thought more about these figures: 10-of-23 passing, 114 yards, four sacks, one fumble.
Not long after the day, he had already watched his first start four times, taking a fine-tooth comb to a new aspect with every rewatch. He needs to see what he missed. Then where he can get better. Then two more watches to assess the scheme — what was open, what worked well?
His self-assessment after four viewings: “I kind of played timid a little bit. I kind of played nervous to make a mistake,” he said. “I just have to go out there and play.”
The same message was given to Sellers a day before his first start. You don’t need to be Superman, head coach Shane Beamer told him, just go out there and relax.
That’s easy until the 80,000 eyes are on you and things ain’t going right.
“I don’t feel like he tried to do too much,” Beamer said. “It’s just, the expectations, game one, you’re in that stadium and you wanna play great. He did a lot of really good things. He made some nice throws.”
Perhaps a positive sign: When asked about what he’s seen from South Carolina’s Week 2 opponent, Kentucky, Sellers sounded like he was leading an offensive meeting, listing off the formations the Wildcats are most in, how many defensive starters they return (10) and noted that defensive tackle Deone Walker is a monster.
He doesn’t seem to be flustered. Perhaps that’ll change as he transitions from his first game to first road game. But he seems to be going back to the message he heard on Saturday evening: “You’re young. You have time.”
“You can only get better from there,” Sellers said. “I’m still young, still have time.. I just have to get better faster.”
Next South Carolina football game
Who: South Carolina at Kentucky
Where: Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky.
When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7
TV: ABC
Local News
Comments / 0