COLUMBIA — Four years ago LaNorris Sellers watched unranked South Carolina football beat then No. 5 Tennessee in Williams-Brice Stadium as a high school prospect.

That game made him really consider going to South Carolina.

Sellers, now the third-year starting quarterback, carried his unranked Gamecocks to a walk-off 27-24 win over No. 11 Tennessee on Oct. 24.

Sellers made one of the game's biggest plays to help tie the game at 24 with 1:17 left.

On third down at the Tennessee 4, Sellers started running right and plowed into the initial defender, but even when help came, Sellers stood strong. Inches from being ruled down with his head staring at the grass, he somehow wiggled out, flopping backward while extending his arm and the ball across the goal line.

"Just got to commit to it," Sellers said. "It's a DB, I'm 240 pounds, he's going to wrap me up, try to slow me down but you just gotta find a way."

LaNorris, South Carolina didn't want to blow another lead

The Gamecocks (4-3, 2-3 SEC) had a 14-0 first-quarter lead but after getting outscored 21-3 in the second quarter, they trailed from 24 seconds left before halftime until the final minutes of the game.

It looked like it was going to be the third game this season where they blew at least a 14-point lead.

"You want it bad," Sellers said. "Just all the bad we had to deal with this season, everything that we had to overcome, we deserved it. We went out there and fought till the end and found a way to win."

His defense made back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter that allowed him to showcase the 2024 version of himself. That season, he made several game-winning plays, but he hadn't found a way to do that to since beating Clemson almost two years ago.

Trailing by seven, South Carolina stopped Tennessee on fourth down with 3:35 left, which set up the drive for Sellers' game-tying score.

The Vols (6-2, 4-2) had a chance to drive for the winning score, but quarterback George MacIntyre was strip-sacked by star edge rusher Dylan Stewart. Defensive tackle Tomi Durojaiye recovered it on the Tennessee 34 with 33 seconds left.

Four snaps later, Malik Orsan buried a 48-yarder as time expired, then ran to celebrate as the fans stormed the field.

"I trust LaNorris and our offense," Orsan said. "I knew he was going to get us into good range, making it a manageable kick."

The victory marked the first home SEC win since September 2025 and the second straight Top-25 victory, following up the win over then No. 15 Florida on Oct. 10.

What Shane Beamer said about LaNorris Sellers' game

Coach Shane Beamer now has nine ranked wins in his six seasons but this marked the first walk-off win over a Top-25 opponent. Beamer joins Steve Spurrier as the only Gamecocks coach to beat both Tennessee and Florida in the same season. Beamer is the only coach to do it when each were in the Top 20.

Sellers is the only quarterback in program history to beat both.

"He's freakin unbelievable," Beamer said. "The play he made to score that touchdown. Unreal, one of the great plays probably in the history of South Carolina football.

Sellers finished 18-of-32 for 210 passing yards, one touchdown, one interception with 96 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.