Sellers’ health and the Gamecocks’ CFP hopes are now both questionable

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nothing is guaranteed in sports and you can double down on that statement when it comes to college football and SEC football. The Southeastern Conference was on full display this weekend with a lot of headline matchups.

One of the headline matchups on Saturday night was no.11 South Carolina at home against a physical Vanderbilt team led by a tough quarterback. The Gamecocks had a rough night and basically had two losses in one game. First, they fell 31-7 to the Commodores. Second, starting quarterback and one of preseason Heisman favorites LaNorris Sellers was knocked out of the game late in the second quarter by a Commodores defender who was called for targetting.

Sellers left the game with a head injury and didn’t return. His status is questionable for this week’s game against Missouri and that leaves the Gamecocks’ college football playoffs hopes looming. To be completely fair, the Gamecocks’ offense was struggling at the time of Sellers’ injury and they were trailing 14-7. Sellers was six-of-seven passing with 94 passing yards and one interception.

South Carolina has dropped out of the latest top-25 AP Poll and is a 12.5 point underdog at Missouri this week. Head coach Shane Beamer had a teleconference on Sunday afternoon, but didn’t get into any specifics about the health of his quarterback or any other players.

If Sellers is not able to play, then the Gamecocks will turn to senior quarterback Luke Doty. He entered the game once Sellers couldn’t return and struggled. He went 18-of-27 and had only 148 passing yards. Gamecocks’ nation are hoping for some good news later on this week. The initial availability and injury reports are released on Wednesdays with the second and third reports coming on days thereafter.

Regardless of the Sellers’ injury, the Gamecocks have struggled this season on offense with Mike Shula taking over as the offensive coordinator after the departure of Dowell Loggains to Appalachian State this summer. South Carolina is ranked 15th or worse in the SEC in total offense, scoring offense, rushing yards, third down conversion, sacks allowed and red zone offense. The offensive line has not performed well this season and the passing game has yet to produce big plays on a consistent basis. They only racked up 253 total yards in their 38-10 win against South Carolina State. With or without Sellers, the Gamecocks could be staring at a 0-2 record to start SEC play with six more games left against nationally ranked SEC opponents, including Missouri.

Also, the back half of their schedule features LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama and Oklahoma.