LaNorris Sellers injury update: South Carolina QB expected to start vs. Missouri

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers is expected to start against Missouri, CBS Sports reported Friday. On3’s Pete Nakos and Chris Low reported he was trending in the right direction after suffering a concussion last week against Vanderbilt and was listed as probable on Thursday’s injury report.

Sellers left the Week 3 matchup in the first half with a head injury and didn’t return. He entered concussion protocol, leading to questions about his availability for this week’s game against Missouri.

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Sellers returned to practice this week, On3 reported, which showed he was on the right track. Friday’s final availability report is due to release at 8:10 p.m. ET.

Prior to his departure, Sellers completed 6-of-7 passes for 94 yards against Vanderbilt. He left the game after a hit from Commodores linebacker Langston Patterson, who was ejected for targeting as a result. Luke Doty took over at quarterback and went 18-of-27 for 148 yards as Vanderbilt got the 31-7 victory.

With regard to the targeting call, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer expressed frustration during the halftime interview about replay buzzing down to make the call. He thought it was obvious and warranted an immediate flag.

“I asked him as soon as it happened if [they were] looking at it for targeting,” Beamer said. “For our quarterback to be lying there on the ground like that, he probably got hit in the head. And then, for whatever reason, it took them a while to buzz down.

“So, I don’t know what’s going on in Birmingham or wherever they look at it, but I thought it was pretty obvious.”

Through the first three games of the season, LaNorris Sellers has completed 64.4% of his passes for 431 yards and two touchdowns, along with an interception thrown against Vanderbilt. He’s been quiet in the running game, though, totaling just 45 yards out of the gate.

Beamer said this week that’s not by design, necessarily. It comes down to Sellers’ reads and whether he needs to take off or throw it.

“I don’t know what conspiracy theories are out there, but I’ve never said – and no one in this building has ever said – we need to run the quarterback less. Like I hear all this crap about ‘they’re not running the quarterback enough,’ we’re calling the same God dang plays we called last year, guys. And we’re not saying we need to run LaNorris less,” Beamer said.

“I know there’s this conspiracy theory going back to the bowl game that we said not to run LaNorris as much. We’re running plenty. And some of those are reads where LaNorris can hand it or pull it and keep it. Some of those are RPOs where he can run it or throw it. And some of those are called designed runs that he runs.”