Todd McShay high on South Carolina repeating 2024 success with LaNorris Sellers

South Carolina was picked to finish 12th in the SEC ahead of last season. The Gamecocks shocked the nation, posting a 5-3 record in conference play and narrowly missing out on the College Football Playoff. The Ringer‘s Todd McShay expects South Carolina to shine again this fall.

“They needed a running back after Raheim Sanders is gone, and they bring in Rahsul Faison, 25 years old, began at Marshall, then [junior college], then Utah State. Had 1,845 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns at Utah State,” McShay said.

“He comes in now at South Carolina with [LaNorris] Sellers, with those wide receivers. I don’t know that South Carolina is going to make the have the dip that everyone seems to think that they are, but I’m a South Carolina homer.”

Raheim “Rocket” Sanders was key to South Carolina’s surprising success last season. He led the backfield with 881 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.

South Carolina was well-aware of Sanders’ importance and made sure to secure another standout running back in the portal this offseason. Faison was the No. 5 running back in On3’s 2025 Transfer Portal Player Rankings.

As McShay mentioned, he is a veteran RB. Last season alone, Faison racked up over 1,100 rushing yards and eight scores. If he can mesh as well with quarterback LaNorris Sellers as Sanders did last season, the Gamecocks could have another exciting season ahead of them.

After all, experts certainly aren’t expecting Sellers to slow down in his second season as the team’s full-time starter. Sellers was named the preseason All-SEC First-Team quarterback after bursting onto the scene last year.

Sellers finished the 2024 campaign with 2,534 passing yards and 18 touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions. He also notched 674 yards and seven touchdowns in the ground game.

In turn, South Carolina has received its due respect this offseason. Earlier this month, South Carolina landed at No. 13 in the first AP Top 25 of the season. Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer is excited to meet expectations this fall.

“I’d rather be ranked high and have those expectations than not,” Beamer said. “… As a coach, when you’re not ranked high, like we were last year, it’s great because you can use that as fuel and motivation. But we want to be a team that’s consistently ranked high in the top 10, top 15, going into every single season because it means we did some good stuff the year before, and we’re expected to do stuff again.”