Akron @ South Carolina preview
Williams-Brice Stadium
Last Meeting ( Dec 1, 2018 ) Akron 3, South Carolina 28
South Carolina expects to have the services of quarterback LaNorris Sellers for Saturday's nonconference game against Akron at Columbia, S.C.
Sellers departed last weekend's 36-33 loss to then-No. 16 LSU with a sprained ankle. Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer said Tuesday the injury isn't serious.
"LaNorris assures me he's good and will be ready to go," Beamer said.
Sellers was injured late in the second quarter against LSU and returned for one series in the third before calling it a day.
He completed 9 of 16 passes for 113 yards and one interception and rushed 10 times for 88 yards and two touchdowns. His 75-yard scoring run was the longest by a quarterback in school history.
The Gamecocks (2-1) likely would turn to Robby Ashford if Sellers can't play. He was 2-of-4 passing for 42 yards and rushed 11 times for 24 yards against LSU.
Raheim "Rocket" Sanders rushed for 143 yards and two TDs on 19 carries, including a 66-yard scoring run. Sanders leads the Gamecocks with 285 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
The Zips (1-2) overcame a 17-point first-quarter deficit last weekend while posting a 31-20 victory over visiting Colgate.
Ben Finley set career highs of 358 passing yards and four touchdowns. He had passed for a total of 191 yards in season-opening setbacks against Ohio State and Rutgers.
"Excited to see Ben build off of his performances against Ohio State and Rutgers," Akron coach Joe Moorhead said. "Made a bunch of good decisions, threw the ball with accuracy -- short and medium -- and certainly pushing the ball down the field. Gotta continue to work on quieting his feet down in the pocket and improving his accuracy a little bit."
Moorhead is familiar with SEC country -- he was head coach of Mississippi State in 2018-19.
"We're going to control what we can control, which is how well we prepare our level of effort and execution," he said. "The department gets to pay some bills, the equestrian team gets some new saddles, and everybody wins. So we're going to be fired up to go down there in certainly a very challenging environment."
South Carolina won the lone previous meeting 28-3 late in the 2018 season.
--Field Level Media