Hogs need game plan for South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers

Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield spent part of Monday listing the ways LaNorris Sellers can give a defense trouble.

The list ran long. Not one item on it was good news for his defense that has struggled at times this year against good offenses.

“Obviously he’s dynamic,” Silverfield said. “He can throw in the pocket with the best. Can make any throw out there. He can throw on the run. He can run himself, and he’s as dynamic as a player as there is in college football.”

In other words, there’s no safe call. Blitz him and he might take off. Sit back and he’ll find somebody open.

Sellers isn’t the only headache, either. Silverfield said one of the Gamecocks’ wideouts has been No. 1 on Bruce Feldman’s freak list two years straight.

“They’ve got some explosive playmakers,” Silverfield said. “I’ve talked to quite a few NFL scouts that have come through here, and they said, by far and away, South Carolina arguably has one of the best rosters in all of college football.”

That’s a nice compliment from the scouts. It’s less fun when you’re the Razorbacks and you’ve got to line up against that roster in four days.

Sellers looks like a different player now

Go back to South Carolina’s three-game skid and Sellers looked pretty ordinary.

His completion rate sat at 59.4%. He threw for 231 yards per outing with 1.67 touchdown passes.

His legs did plenty of work back then. He piled up 90.3 rushing yards a game, but not one of those carries ended in the end zone.

The win streak is a different story. Sellers is completing 65.6% of his throws over the last four games. He’s up to 260.3 passing yards and 2.25 touchdown throws per game.

Oddly enough, he’s running for less at 61.5 yards each time out. He’s just scoring more when he does, with 1.5 rushing touchdowns per contest.

Count every touchdown he’s had a hand in. That number averaged 1.67 during the slump. It’s 3.75 now.

The lone bit of uncertainty is his left ankle. Sellers got hurt in Saturday’s 17-9 win over Texas A&M, went back in anyway and is expected to play in Razorback Stadium.

Beamer climbed off the hot seat

Shane Beamer’s season took a bad turn early.

His Gamecocks beat up on Kent State and Towson to open the year. Mississippi State, Alabama and Kentucky then knocked off South Carolina in back-to-back-to-back games.

At 2-3, the folks who track coaching hot seats had Beamer near the top of their lists.

Silverfield didn’t dance around that part. “Obviously they didn’t have the year they wanted last year, and the rough start this year,” he said. “I think everybody knew it was getting a little hot for him.”

Beamer’s team answered with road wins at No. 16 Florida and Oklahoma. It also took down No. 11 Tennessee and Texas A&M.

That’s how you go from 2-3 to No. 20 in the country. South Carolina is now 6-3 overall and 4-3 in league play.

Silverfield credited “the culture that Coach Beamer’s built” for the turnaround.

“They haven’t quit on him, and they come out and rip off four in a row,” he said.

He didn’t express an opinion to compare his own situation with the Hogs to it. There are people howling about the job he’s doing this year, even if it his first and may have started with a multitude of problems. Whether he knew in advance is up for debate.

The Hogs catch them at a bad time

Even the TV crew has noticed, according to Silverfield.

“In fact, if you watch the TV copy versus A&M, they talked about them being the hottest team in college football right now, and they’re playing at a high level, and they’re doing it consistently for four quarters in all three phases,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Hogs are 3-6 and 1-5 in the SEC. This stretch of the schedule hasn’t done Arkansas any favors.

South Carolina comes to Razorback Stadium on Saturday for a 6:45 p.m. CST kickoff. SEC Network has the broadcast.

Snapping the streak starts with making Sellers beat this defense one way, not two.

Silverfield’s group has until Saturday night to work through that list he read Monday. Good luck.