(Photo credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images)

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate and a potential high pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, left the No. 11 Gamecocks' eventual 31-7 loss to Vanderbilt in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday after taking a hit to the head and did not return.

Sellers, a redshirt sophomore, entered Saturday with 337 yards and two touchdowns passing without an interception in two games, leading the Gamecocks to a 2-0 start and the verge of a top-10 ranking.

With Vanderbilt leading 14-7 and less than two minutes left in the first half, Sellers opened a drive with a 1-yard completion to running back Rahsul Faison in the right flat to the South Carolina 26. Commodores linebacker Langston Patterson blitzed on the play and made contact with Sellers just after the quarterback threw the ball.

Patterson kept his arms extended outward and did not wrap up Sellers nor take him to the ground, but Patterson hit Sellers helmet-to-helmet and was eventually ejected for targeting after a lengthy delay.

As Sellers lay on the ground holding his head, training staff came out and tended to him, with the 20-year-old ultimately walking off the field under his own power but never returning to the game.

He finished the game 6 of 7 for 94 yards passing with his lone incompletion his first interception of the season. Luke Doty replaced Sellers at quarterback and finished 18 of 27 passing for 148 yards and an interception without a score.

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer did not have an update on Sellers' status after the game.

Sellers had a breakout 2024 season as a redshirt freshman, completing 65.6 percent of his passes for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for 674 yards and seven scores on 166 carries.

--Field Level Media