South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers briefly left Saturday's game against Texas A&M after suffering an apparent left ankle injury but returned to start the third quarter.
Injury scare at Williams-Brice Stadium
Sellers was sandwiched between defenders on a sack at the Aggies' 18-yard line, lost a fumble, and grabbed his left ankle before hobbling off with the help of team trainers. He entered the injury tent and later emerged on his own power, walking toward the locker room with just over four minutes remaining before halftime. "We're concerned," South Carolina coach Shane Beamer told the ESPN broadcast at halftime. "He's got an ankle, and he's getting an X-ray on it. I don't have anything else."
Quick return and game context
Sellers re-entered the contest to open the third quarter during South Carolina's first possession and showed no ill effects of the first-half injury. Before exiting, he had completed 10 of 15 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. The Gamecocks (5-3), slotted No. 21 in the first College Football Playoff rankings after three straight wins, need their best player available to remain in the postseason conversation.
Recent standout performances
Sellers has accounted for 13 touchdowns during South Carolina's current win streak and was named the AP's National Player of the Week after registering 397 yards of total offense and five touchdowns at Oklahoma. That performance included an 84-yard touchdown pass to DJ Black and a 79-yard toss to Mazeo Bennett, both made off schedule with Sellers outside the pocket.
Beamer praised the team's scramble drills following the Oklahoma win: "Those are great plays. I mean, you worry about those plays from a protection standpoint, so you see him get the ball off. And I'm proud of our guys, too. When the quarterback scrambles, it's not like everybody just runs around blindly. Like, we have a plan of what needs to happen when the quarterback scrambles, and we worked a lot of that on the bye week. We talked about it this morning in our staff meeting: that, make sure we're big on scrambles because they're really, really good on defense, and they're probably going to get some pressure on our quarterback, and we've got a chance to hit some big plays in the passing game if we do. So, great to see those guys execute the scramble drills the right way."
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
