If LaNorris Sellers wants to work his way into the Heisman Trophy conversation this season, it starts Saturday against Kent State.
And I’m going to take it a little further than simply saying he needs to play well.
He needs to dominate this football game.
Kent State is a football team that, quite frankly, should have no business being on the same field with LaNorris Sellers from a talent standpoint. Sellers is bigger, stronger, faster and more physically gifted than just about anybody Kent State is going to put in front of him.
He needs to make that obvious.
I’ve said all offseason that Sellers has the talent to work his way into the Heisman conversation. I’m not saying he’s going to win it. I’m not even saying he’s going to end up in New York.
But the talent is there.
What hasn’t been there consistently enough is the production.
That’s why Saturday matters.
Sellers doesn’t need to spend four quarters grinding out a respectable stat line against Kent State. I don’t want to see him with 225 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception and hear afterward about how South Carolina was just trying to get comfortable in the new season.
No.
Go dominate them.
I want to see Sellers take control of this game from the opening possession. I want to see him completing passes downfield. I want to see him making plays with his legs. I want to see him putting touchdowns on the board and forcing Kent State to spend the afternoon trying to figure out what the hell they’re supposed to do with him.
Because that’s what Heisman-caliber players do against inferior competition.
They don’t just beat those teams.
They overwhelm them.
If Sellers wants his name mentioned alongside the top quarterbacks in college football, these are the Saturdays when he has to pile up numbers.
Give me 275 or 300 yards passing.
Give me three or four touchdowns.
Give me another 50 or 60 yards on the ground.
Most importantly, give me zero turnovers.
And I’d like to see him do most of that before the fourth quarter ever arrives.
In fact, the perfect afternoon for Sellers might end with him standing on the South Carolina sideline midway through the third quarter because the Gamecocks are ahead by four or five touchdowns and there’s absolutely no reason for him to still be on the field.
That’s domination.
There’s another reason this is important.
Sellers is trying to change the narrative after 2025.
Last season wasn’t what anybody expected from him or South Carolina. The Gamecocks struggled, Sellers’ numbers weren’t what people anticipated, and all that national conversation surrounding him cooled considerably.
Saturday is his opportunity to start changing it.
And the thing about the Heisman Trophy is that you’re not just competing against the defense across from you.
You’re competing against every other quarterback in America.
If one of the other Heisman contenders throws for 350 yards and four touchdowns Saturday while Sellers throws for 210 and two touchdowns against Kent State, which performance do you think people are going to be talking about Sunday morning?
That’s how this works.
Heisman campaigns are built week by week.
There will be Saturdays later this season when Sellers simply needs to find a way to win. When you’re playing Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma or another heavyweight, nobody gives a damn whether you throw for 400 yards. Make the plays that win the football game.
Kent State isn’t one of those Saturdays.
This is the Saturday you build the stat sheet.
This is the Saturday you create a couple of highlights.
This is the Saturday you remind everybody watching college football exactly why there was so much excitement surrounding LaNorris Sellers in the first place.
I’ve evaluated football players for a long time, and there aren’t many quarterbacks who possess the physical tools Sellers has. At his best, he’s one of those rare players who can completely take over a football game.
We’ve seen it before.
Now I want to see it consistently.
And it starts Saturday.
Don’t just beat Kent State.
Don’t just play well.
Dominate them.
If LaNorris Sellers wants to take that first step toward putting his name into the Heisman Trophy conversation, this is exactly the kind of football game where he needs to show everyone that he belongs there.
