Sports

South Carolina QB Exploits College Football’s Safety Rules To Steamroll Helpless Defender

#College Football
by
South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers runs the ball during a football game vs. Oklahoma.

Getty Image


LaNorris Sellers led the South Carolina football team to a massive win over 10th-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday, giving the Gamecocks a signature win in the 2024 season.

The quarterback played a major role in the upset as he racked up 350 yards of offense and three scores.

Sellers was able to use both his arm and his legs to bury the Aggies and was seen scrambling away from trouble time and again to keep plays alive. He reportedly broke 12 tackles, many of which were in the backfield, to turn negative plays into big yardage.

One of those scampers is now being critiqued.

Early in the second quarter of action, Seller was seen evading the Texas A&M pass rush before turning up the field towards the sticks. Needing eight yards to pick up a first down, he slowed up just ahead of the marker then steamrolled a defender.

The effort allowed the quarterback to pick up the first down, but there was nothing the Aggie tackler could do!

Sellers slid on nearly every other scramble play seen in that first half of action. He consistently avoided contact throughout the game, but in this case, he invited it.

It appeared the Texas A&M defender believed he’d do the same when Sellers slowed down a few steps in front of him. The tackler let down his guard. He wasn’t ready for the boom!

That defender was BJ Mayes, and he found himself between a rock and a hard place very quickly.

Had he attempted to make the tackle, he would risk being flagged for unnecessary roughness by hitting a QB who’d given himself up – as Sellers had in every other instance up to this play. Or, he could back off and hope that Sellers would simply go down.

Mayes backed off, and he paid for it!

Some suggested that LaNorris Sellers should’ve been called for targeting after appearing to launch himself into the defender, helmet first. Had roles been reversed, it might’ve been viewed differently.

Sellers exploited the rules, which heavily favor the offense in this particular scenario. Mayes, meanwhile, wound up on the wrong side of a highlight!