Everything LaNorris Sellers said after the Mizzou loss

LaNorris Sellers passed for 302 yards in South Carolina’s 29-20 loss at Missouri. Here’s everything he said after the game.

Question: What happened on the first and goal, the sack?
Sellers: It was just a different look. They passed it off pretty well. It was really a fullback to the backside, shallow look, but they passed it off. So I mean, you just need to throw it away.

Question: When there are some plays that you realize maybe I should have thrown it away, how tough is it to balance that with saying, maybe I should have kept it there?
Sellers: It’s just playing the game. It just comes off playing a game. If I can make a play, try to make a play, but when it gets to a point, you’ve got to throw it away, just throw it away. 

Question: How much were you able to do this week in practice? Was it pretty normal?
Sellers: I think Tuesday was pretty light, but I don’t get touched anyway in practice. So, I mean, I can go through practice and be all right. Monday, I think I was off. Sunday, I didn’t really do much, got on the bike a little bit. Tuesday was light. Wednesday, I was pretty much full go.

Question: How do you explain the negative nine rushing yards tonight? 
Sellers: We’ve just got to be better. just got to execute better, communicate better, just get looks right, stuff like that.

Question: Do you think that that can get better? 
Sellers: I think we can figure it out. Last year, we were pretty much in the same situation. Start off slow at the beginning of the year, got it rolling later. Including with me, we can all get better. But I’m sure we can get it rolling, figure it out. 

Question: Do you feel like you were called to run as much as you feel like you should be?
Sellers: I think that’s a weird topic because I did a lot of read-option stuff last year, but people were just taking the running back out. I think now they’re just zoning it off and then they’re seeking across with linebackers. They know what’s coming, too. So they’re sitting, making sure I don’t keep the ball, and then the linebackers are coming up over the top of that. And then if I do have a run or something, they’re just all shooting gaps. So it’s kind of like, they know it’s coming too.

Question: What’s the biggest issue right now with the pre-snap penalties?
Sellers: You’ve just got to lock in on it. It’s pretty much like keying in on my voice. Yes, it’s loud, we’re in SC and all that, but I mean, we’re gonna play places where it’s gonna get louder. We’ve just got to key in on the voice, key in on the snap count. I think that’s pretty much what it is. It’s keying on and focus.

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Question: You had 19 yards in the fourth quarter. Was it something they did differently defensively? What were your issues in the fourth quarter? 
Sellers: No, it just comes back to we had penalties, stuff like that. They’re just dropping off in zone. We’ve got to get something quick rolling, get it rolling, and then get into a rhythm. Penalties really killed us. 

Question: Is there a reason you don’t roll out more, or is it something with defenses?
Sellers: It’s like pretty much what the defense (does). Like, we don’t really know what they’re going to do, how they’re going to play it because, yeah, we can roll out, but they can just shoot the end up field and blitz a linebacker. So if they’re shooting upfield and I have to step up, linebacker’s coming right there. They’re trying to contain me, really, so they’re never going to let me get outside because then I can run it or throw it. So it’s a defensive thing, really. 

Question: Going back to the first and goal, sack, were you guys ever thinking about maybe just running the ball right out of the gate, or was it always going to be that play you guys ran? 
Sellers: I think it was just what we was feeling, pretty much. We knew where they were going to play something similar to that. They played what we thought, but they just passed it off. So that’s all that was. 

Question: Should you guys have run the ball in that situation? 
Sellers: I don’t know. Play call in that moment, it’s just in that moment, how are you feeling, like I said. 

Question: You were able to get some things going through the air. What do you think you guys can do to build off that? 
Sellers: We’ve just got to run the ball, keep teams honest, really. If you run the ball, it’ll open up the pass game. If we can do both, it will be tough for defenses to stop.

Question: What has to happen for guys to get back in the win column and turn things around?
Sellers: I can’t really speak for the defense. I don’t really know because I’m watching film while they’re out there. But, offensively, we’ve just got to execute better. That’s just what it comes down to. We’ve got to pass block, we’ve got to throw the ball, catch the ball, run the ball, just do all the things you need to do to move the ball. It takes all 11 of us.

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