Did contacts help USC QB LaNorris Sellers see better versus LSU? It’s complicated

LaNorris Sellers’ goggles are a signature part of his uniform.

As the Florence native as risen from local standout to South Carolina’s starting quarterback, his Rec Specs have become a fan favorite.

USC’s head football athletic trainer Clint Haggard tried to get Sellers to abandon the frames for contact lenses when he first arrived on campus last season.

But Sellers refused. He hated contacts. So, after seeing how Sellers’ high school goggles had been worn down to the point where the brand and size were indiscernible, Haggard helped him find the perfect pair on OpticsOutfitter.com: The Challenger XL.

After last week’s Kentucky game, though, the practicality of Sellers’ frames were called into question.

“After watching live, then confirming on the Sunday rewatch, Sellers goggles clearly affect his peripheral vision,” Keith Allsep posted to X Sunday with a side profile picture of Sellers in Lexington and a white arrow pointed at his glasses. “Gamecocks got lucky twice on the 1st drive of the 2nd half. Sellers hit from the right side twice, fumbled both times.”

As of Saturday evening, the post had garnered over 138,000 views and 421 likes. Allsep quoted the post two days later with a bit of a qualifier:

“Look, I’m NOT saying its DEFINITELY a problem, but to me, it is a question worth asking,” Allsep wrote. “Now we all already know what the head coach’s answer will be publicly, but maybe taking a peripheral vision test is worth it, just to rule it out.”

Sellers opted for contacts against LSU Saturday, a move that surprised South Carolina fans. But both he and coach Shane Beamer insist that Allsep’s post and its virality had nothing to do with it.

“’Hey, bud,’” Beamer recalled telling Sellers earlier in the week when the quarterback shared the decision with his coach. “’You be you. I know there’s a picture floating around on social media of your goggles, and you can’t see. Don’t do this just because you think you’re supposed to.’”

Sellers told Beamer the decision was entirely his own. No outside influence had swayed him.

Sellers completed 10 of 14 passes for 166 and two touchdowns against Kentucky. Before his second-quarter ankle injury against LSU, Sellers went 9 of 16 for 113 yards passing, plus 88 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Beamer also maintained in his postgame press conference after the 36-33 loss that USC had tested Sellers’ peripheral vision with his goggles in the past.

“That’s not an issue,” Beamer said. “We’re not going to put a quarterback out there that can’t see out the side.”

Sellers said he had been trying contacts out over the last couple weeks, switching between them and his regular specs. At practice on Wednesday and Thursday, he decided to try the contacts this week, see how he feels, and ultimately made the decision to switch Friday night.

Did the change impact his field visibility at all? Well...

“It’s crazy,” Sellers said. “You can still see, but everything’s just so much brighter. You see a lot more, honestly.”

But...

“It’s just different. It’s just different, you know what I’m saying? Not that you see more or less, but it’s just different.”