The Gamecock football team held its annual spring football game last week on April 20. The team split into two sides, garnet and black, and competed in a friendly scrimmage, followed by a fireworks show.

The contest allowed fans to get a first look at a revamped South Carolina roster. Garnet won the game 17-0 over Black in front of just over 32,000 Gamecocks faithful.

Many players stood out throughout the game, some for positive reasons and others for negative. Here are a few of those observations.

LaNorris Sellers separates himself

If Saturday was any indication, the spring quarterback battle will be short and simple with Sellers emerging as the top dog.

Players and coaches will continue to push for the competition, but the differences between Sellers and his peers were obvious. Sellers was the starting quarterback for the Garnet team and went 9-11 with 70 yards in the air and 38 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

He marched Garnet down the field on the game’s first drive and connected on all four of his passes before eventually taking off for the touchdown. After the game, he was named Offensive Player of the Spring.

“I think I did pretty good,” Sellers said. “We moved the ball. We scored. Kept the ball safe, so, I mean, that’s the most important thing.”

His competition faced their share of struggles in the spring game.

Auburn transfer Robbie Ashford started for Black. He only got one pass off but completed it for 14 yards. He ran out of a collapsing pocket on most plays, but after adding sacks and tackles for loss, he finished with negative yardage.

Dante Reno and Davis Beville played in the second half. Each threw an interception but had bright moments as well. Reno was 1-5 with 15 yards, but that completion resulted in a touchdown. Beville was efficient going 8-10, including the pick.

Defense swarms the backfield

The defense found itself making tackles in the backfield a lot. But it is too early to determine if that was because of defensive dominance, offensive line struggles or a mix of both.

The Garnet team ran for 101 yards on 22 attempts. But Black’s run game was completely shut down by the Garnet defense, totaling one net rush yard on 24 carries.

The defense also got to the quarterback with the two sides combining for nine sacks, and it could have been more had the refs and coaches not been so lenient with close calls.

Bryan Thomas Jr. led the way on defense with a game-high seven tackles and 2.5 sacks for Garnet.

“It showed them what I can do, what I can bring to the fall, it shows my skillsets to the fans,” he said.

Incoming five-star freshman Dylan Stewart showed what he can do by recording three tackles and a sack.

“Dylan’s been a guy that it’s never been too big for him, the moment, practice, whatever it might be,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “Certainly was an adjustment in January when he comes here and he starts classes and he’s in the weight room weight program and all that. That was an adjustment but as far as being out on the field, that’s when he’s at his best and he’s a really good player.”

Short game dominates the offense

For a game that doesn’t count, there were not a lot of risky or deep shot plays called.

Perhaps that was just strategy to not give away key plays that will be utilized in-season. But looking at the roster, the team’s receiving group consists of small, speedy athletes and lacks significant size on the perimeter.

The players ran short routes with sharp cuts to create space. The longest reception was for 17 yards and no receiver pulled in more than two passes.

The team was without its biggest receiver, 6-foot-5-inch track star Nyck Harbor. Harbor was at the game but did not dress out because he is in the middle of track season.

The team can look at the transfer portal this spring to try and add some height or a deep threat.

If not, the team will need to improve its blocking on the perimeter and downfield, or else it will be extremely difficult to pick up chunks of yards. Slants, screens and crosses rely on that kind of blocking to succeed.