CLEMSON — No. 14 South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer made a few things very clear after the Gamecocks’ thrilling 17-14 win Saturday over rival No. 12 Clemson in the Palmetto Bowl.
South Carolina (9-3) defeated the Tigers (9-3) after quarterback LaNorris Sellers ran 20 yards for a touchdown with 1:08 to play. He also rushed for a 25-yard score, giving him both of the Gamecocks’ touchdowns.
“LaNorris Sellers is the best player in the country,” Beamer said. “All you media people that vote on the Heisman (Trophy award), if you’re not voting for that guy in the mix for the Heisman Trophy you are out of your minds. Name a player in the country who has done more than that kid has, particularly today. In the environments he’s done it in, in the moment he’s done it in, he put our team on his back today … players needed to step up and make plays (for South Carolina), and that kid sure as hell did. What a performance.”
Sellers, a redshirt freshman, rushed 16 times for 166 yards − an average of 10.4 yards per carry − and was 13-for-21 passing for 164 yards with an interception.
South Carolina picked up its sixth consecutive win for its best finish in four seasons under Beamer and with at least a bowl game ahead. Beamer (29-21) broke former coach Steve Spurrier’s record of 28 wins in the first four seasons at South Carolina.
The Gamecocks are potentially in College Football Playoff territory with the win, but no decisions are made until Dec. 8. They couldn’t think about the CFP unless they defeated Clemson, which was No. 12 in the CFP rankings released Tuesday, with South Carolina No. 15.
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“I do believe we deserve a spot in the 12-team playoff,” Beamer said. “I get it − the committee has a really tough job. … I get it − we got three losses. I understand that, but it’s hard for me to sit here and say that we aren’t one of the 12 best teams in the country. When you look at our strength of schedule, our wins on the road. … We go in hostile environments every single week.”
The Gamecocks picked up their fourth win over a Top 25 team after defeating Texas A&M, Missouri, and Vanderbilt earlier this season. Clemson marked the seventh ranked opponent they faced. They fell by a combined total of five points to two Top 20 teams, Alabama and LSU, but South Carolina lost 27-3 to Ole Miss on Oct. 5, another three-loss SEC team hoping for a CFP spot.
“I get it − there’s some very deserving teams out there − but if the committee’s job is to pick the 12 best teams, you tell me, you tell me on Selection Sunday everybody across the country if South Carolina pops up in that bracket, I don’t know any team that would be excited to play this team the way we are playing right now,” Beamer said.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
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