Mike Shula wants USC QB LaNorris Sellers to run, but only for the right reasons
It’s no secret: South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers is good on his feet.
The third-year signal caller was second in rush yards and attempts for the Gamecocks last season. And even though Sellers is primed to make strides as a passer— and has the help of Oscar Adaway III and Rahsul Faison at running back — Gamecocks offensive coordinator Mike Shula wants to utilize his QB’s legs just as much in 2025. The difference, Shula said, is when Sellers runs.
“We want him running it because he wants to, as opposed to, ‘I didn’t quite see the read correctly, so I just took off and ran,’ ” Shula said.
Sellers ran 13 times for 25 yards in USC’s 24-11 win against Virginia Tech Sunday in Atlanta, including a 15-yard touchdown on the opening drive. The biggest takeaway from that run is that it was by design. Shula said he’d rather see Sellers run in those situations than take off on a pass play.
A big part of why Sellers found himself scrambling so much last season was because of pressure from the opposing pass rush. USC allowed the second-most sacks in the Southeastern Conference in 2024 with 38. Even against the Hokies, Sellers was sacked four times, one forcing a fumble the Gamecocks recovered. Avoiding the unplanned runs will require better pass protection.
“He’s a weapon, both throwing the ball and running the ball, so we want to make sure we use that,” Shula said. “But we also want to kind of keep him healthy. Not kind of — we want to keep him healthy.”
That doesn’t mean Sellers’ game-breaking scrambles are gone forever. He sealed the win in Atlanta on a 3rd-and-13 late in the fourth quarter by breaking away from the pass rush and sprinting past the first-down marker. But how he spoke about the play in his postgame interview shows that he’s thinking through these decisions more thoroughly.
“If more guys are coming, I’m going to get down, but if it’s one guy or if he’s a pretty good distance away, [I] just try to stay up and break it,” Sellers said.
Shula and the Gamecocks coaching staff recognize the advantage of Sellers’ running ability. Their goal is to keep that ability intact through 12 regular-season games and potentially beyond.
“We want to have the ability to be able to have him run the ball, kind of at any time,” Shula said.
