Everything LaNorris Sellers said ahead of South Carolina's matchup with Oklahoma

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers spoke to the media on Tuesday to preview the team’s Week 8 matchup against Oklahoma. Here’s everything he had to say.

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Is there any noticeable difference between the offensive line schemes that Lonnie [Teasley] was running and what Shawn [Elliott]‘s trying to implement?

“Coach Elliott is just a little bit more hands-on. He’s right in the middle of it. Even during the play, he’s just talking to them, communicating with them throughout the play.”

Do you need your O-linemen to say, “We got you. We’ll protect you,” or is that something that you don’t need to hear them vocalize all the time?

“I don’t think I really need to hear it. I just trust them; I think everybody can do their job on offense. So, I’m glad to hear just knowing that they’ll be there. And if they make mistakes, they’ll be like, ‘Hey, that’s on me.’ I think that’s what I need more.”

You were pressured 60% of the time in the game against LSU. How tough is it when you only have a few seconds in the pocket?

“It’s just… you got to make quicker decisions, really. Like you said, they pressured a lot. We knew they liked to pressure. So, you just got to make quicker decisions and work quicker on the fly.”

Do the coaches consult you when they say, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about doing this,’ or do you offer, say, ‘Maybe, we could do this and help us out with some protection issues?’

“Yes, just a little. I make sure we both talk about it.”

When pressure’s coming from a linebacker, isn’t there a way to roll or move the pocket where it can free you up?

“Yeah, there is. You might not have seen it, but they could send a pressure just in case. … So, they may send a nickel — because nickel fire was pretty much one of their main blitzes. Or, they could do that when we try to roll out, or something like that. It just brings up [something] different, like a ‘corner cat,’ or anything.”

How tough was it for you as a locker room to hear the news of Teasley getting fired?

“Yeah, it’s sad. In the moment, it’s kind of like, ‘Alright, we found out the news or whatever. But
we still have meetings and practice, so there’s not a lot of time to think on it or dwell on it.’ I don’t think it hit a lot of people until later. We got home; everybody started talking about that later that night.”

Whose responsibility is it to see a sack coming. Is it yours, or is it the center’s?

“It’s a mixture of both. Certain protections are zoned one way, when it’s man across the board. Or if they’re bringing a four-weak or something like that, I should see it. But everybody has a hand in it.”

Do you feel most comfortable when you have to scramble, or when it’s a designed run?

“I think it just depends on the play. Once you get out of the pocket, a play’s broken down, it’s just playing football to make something happen. But if it’s a designed run, you got to be in the right gap at the right time. Just because, if you run the counter play, you don’t want to go too far outside the A gap. … So, you’ve got to be a little bit more patient from that standpoint.”

How close do you feel like the offense is to operating the way you want to see it? And what is stopping you guys from getting to that point right now?

“It’s just consistency, really. We do a lot of stuff to shoot ourselves in the foot once we get past the 50 in the red zone area, whether that’s sacks or pre-snap penalties. So, we just got to be more consistent from that standpoint.”

How challenging is it for you to concentrate on your duties and what you need to do if there’s also some concern about the offensive line?

“This is hard. Football is very hard as it is. It’s just a lot because it’s hard if something breaks down. … We all got to work together, if that makes sense. I just can’t do anything to put us in a worse situation — like, just throw the ball over, or something like that, in that case scenario. But we just got to fix it and make it right.”

When you were watching the All-22, how many plays do you think you watched back and said, ‘I missed a guy there, or I should have gotten it out quicker?”

“Yeah, there’s definitely a couple of those that I wish we had back. I’m trying to think off the top of my head. I know for a fact there’s some where I could have stepped up a little bit faster, or I could’ve had a guy open if I stepped one way instead of rolling out.”

Do you feel like you’re in a better spot in terms of having a vocal relationship with your offensive linemen?

“Yeah. It’s just not like yelling; it’s more to talk to them one-on-one. Or in the games, be like, ‘Hey, we good, we good.’ Or, if they make a mistake, it’s kind of like, ‘Hey, that’s on us, or my bad.’ I can be like, ‘Hey, you’re good, just fine. Let’s go to the next play.'”

Is there a theme at all with the false starts, something about the cadence or the play?

“No. They’re making move calls and stuff like that. You’re in the game; it’s already loud. You don’t want to be late off the ball, and they’re making move calls. It’s kind of like, ‘If they’re moving, are we moving, too?’ So, it’s just small stuff like that.”

If you can remember, what happened on the third-and-eight on the second drive (a QB keeper right before William [Joyce] missed a field goal), and then the fourth-and-four late in the game? Why didn’t they work?

“I think the third-and-eight, he made a good play. Rahsul [Faison] was on the block, and he just shifted inside and went back outside. He was there; he helped me up. And more guys came. Then, the fourth-and-four, we knew there was going to be man coverage across the board. We just thought, ‘Our guy versus their guy.’ Competitive plays were a big thing last week. So, it’s kind of like, ‘Hey, it’s man coverage across the board, so take the one-on-one.”

How do you divide your time, either on a personal level or football-wise, making sure you’re on the same page with so many different people?

“The offensive line, we meet with them pretty much every Thursday before we go out to practice. So, that’s when I spend protection meetings and stuff like that with offensive linemen. And then, skill-wise, on Wednesday nights, we lift, we meet together and stuff like that. And obviously, my brother’s a receiver. So, when they hang out and stuff, I’m there with them on a personal level.”

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