Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz gives his take on South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers' injury status ahead of Mayor's Cup

On Saturday, South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers exited the Gamecocks’ loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first half. He did not return after suffering a helmet-to-helmet hit that also resulted in a Vanderbilt ejection.

Naturally, head coach Shane Beamer has not been 100% forthcoming with updates on Sellers’ status for this weekend’s matchup with Missouri. On Sunday, he said he was “optimistic” about both Sellers’ and offensive tackle Cason Henry’s chances of being healthy moving forward but didn’t provide any timetable or additional details.

Beamer also declined to give an update on Tuesday, saying that the next update would come on Wednesday night. “We have an injury report for an SEC game that we release on Wednesday nights,” he said.

With the Gamecocks playing Missouri in the annual Mayor’s Cup on Saturday, an official playing status likely won’t be known until the final SEC-mandated availability report on Saturday afternoon.

However, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz plans on facing off against the South Carolina signal-caller.

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“I anticipate LaNorris playing,” the sixth-year Mizzou headman stated.

Drinkwitz knows a thing or two about keeping a quarterback’s status somewhat secretive. Last year, ahead of the meeting between the two squads, Missouri listed starting quarterback Brady Cook as “doubtful” until the last minute.

Cook was upgraded to “game-time decision” and then started for the Tigers. He played pretty well, throwing for over 200 yards and a late-game, go-ahead touchdown that nearly won the matchup for Mizzou.

Drinkwitz also spoke very highly of Sellers as a player.

“[Sellers is] listed as preseason All-SEC first-team quarterback for a reason,” he said. “He’s got a unique build and frame; he’s really strong and hard to tackle in the pocket and hard to wrap up…He makes incredible decisions and plays when a play is broken down, so I think that’s always a challenge.”

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Drinkwitz’s analysis stems from first-hand experience.

Last season, Sellers went off for 353 yards on 21-for-30 passing and five touchdowns against Missouri. He also added 45 yards rushing and had several Superman-like broken tackles throughout the game. Sellers earned multiple National Player of the Week honors in the Gamecocks’ 34-30 victory.

This year, South Carolina will travel to the “other Columbia” for the 2025 installment of the Mayor’s Cup. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m. (Eastern). ESPN will handle the broadcast, while the ESPN app makes it available via streaming.

Missouri opened as a slight favorite but has shot ahead in the betting odds. According to BetMGM, the Tigers are 13.5-point favorites to win the game.

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