South Carolina suffered a brutal 31-7 loss to Vanderbilt in Week 3 of the 2025 college football season, but the bigger concern is with its star quarterback. Three days after the game, head coach Shane Beamer still does not have an injury update for Heisman hopeful LaNorris Sellers.
Sellers left the game in the first half with a concussion from a hit that was later deemed to be targeting. Beamer, who has been repeatedly asked about the injury since the game ended, refused to discuss the incident on Tuesday and instead offered a vague and blunt response.
“We have an injury report for SEC games that we release on Wednesday nights,” Beamer said, via ESPN's Pete Thamel.
LaNorris Sellers had to be helped off the field after this hit.
The defender was called for targeting and ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/obHOp93MIN
— ESPN (@espn) September 14, 2025
Sellers was sensational in South Carolina's first two games, throwing for 337 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions, while adding another rushing score. He had the offense humming, averaging 31 points per game through the team's first two outings and entering Week 3 with a 2-0 record.
The sophomore was enjoying a decent first half before going down, completing six of his seven passes for 94 passing yards. But without their star quarterback, the Gamecocks were flat in the second half and failed to record another point.
The loss knocked South Carolina out of the Week 4 rankings despite facing Vanderbilt as the No. 11-ranked team in the Week 3 AP poll. With or without Sellers, the Gamecocks will hit the road in Week 5 against No. 23-ranked Missouri.
South Carolina, Shane Beamer in trouble with LaNorris Sellers injury
If it was not clear enough, South Carolina painfully learned that it would be in for a tough football season if Sellers misses significant time. Backup quarterback Luke Doty had the offense stagnant in the second half, leading to a slow and painful death against Vanderbilt.
Doty led six drives in the second half, each ending in disaster. South Carolina could only muster 159 total yards after halftime, with 62 of them coming on the team's final drive in garbage time. The Gamecocks punted on their first drive of the half and turned the ball over on the rest of their possessions.
South Carolina does have Ohio State transfer Air Noland on its roster. Noland was a consensus four-star recruit coming out of high school and redshirted the 2024 season with the Buckeyes.
If Sellers is unable to go, Noland could get the nod. At the very least, he could get his first reps in, with Beamer admitting that he thought about playing him in the fourth quarter against Vanderbilt.
