Shane Beamer breaks down what'll take to win starting QB job, LaNorris Sellers non-contact status
South Carolina is no longer in its Spencer Rattler era, with Shane Beamer having a quarterback battle on his hands. A couple of names stand out, with Auburn transfer Robby Ashford and second-year player LaNorris Sellers are thought to be at the front. Ashford already has some SEC experience, while Sellers has had hype surrounding his name since arriving on campus.
On3’s J.D. PicKell asked Beamer what it would take to win the South Carolina QB competition. He really harped on making smart decisions and not turning the ball over. South Carolina has been elite at forcing turnovers and can fully take advantage by not giving it back to the other team.
“The leadership and the intangibles you want at the position and somebody that can lead our football team,” Beamer said. “And then, for me, it’s really just being able to protect the football and make good decisions. All three seasons that I’ve been here at South Carolina, we’ve been first or second in takeaways defensively.
“So, we’ve done a great job creating turnovers on the defensive side of the ball. We need to do an even better job, offensively, protecting the ball… So, just a guy that will make great decisions and lead our offense and give us a chance to win football games.”
LaNorris Sellers still full contact during practice despite QB battle
Almost every quarterback in college football will have a non-contact jersey on during spring practice. Their health is just too important and any kind of unforced injury can be devastating to a program.
Beamer has a different philosophy for his quarterbacks though — at least the younger guys. Some can go a while without being hit in live-action moments and it can be dangerous when stepping into games. South Carolina lets the less experienced QBs play full-go at times.
“We’ve done this every year that I’ve been here,” Beamer began. “We did it last spring, we did it last August with some of those young quarterbacks that haven’t been hit. We want to — I don’t want to say let them get hit but we need to throw them in the fire.”
Even though Sellers is competing for the starting job, he still wants to play at full speed during practice. Beamer claims Sellers will be upset if the whistle is blown too early sometimes, saying he could have avoided being tackled.
But at the end of the day, he still has an opportunity to be the starter and you have to be careful.
“I remember a scrimmage that we had last spring when LaNorris got here that he was live and we did allow him to get tackled,” Beamer said. “It was a day where not too many of our defensive guys could tackle him. So, he likes that. He gets mad if you don’t make him live… We’ll be smart with him and all of our quarterbacks but you always worry about your quarterbacks getting hit.”