© Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
The Virginia Tech football team fell to South Carolina in its 2025 season opener, 24-11. The game was highly contested through three and a half quarters. The Gamecocks made a few big plays to pull away late.
LaNorris Sellers played a large part in the win. He made clutch plays down the stretch. One Hokies lineman spoke on the difficulties of defending the 240-pound quarterback after the fact.
Kemari Copeland played his in his first FBS game following a season ending injury in 2024. He made an immediate impact.
The transfer logged five tackles and 0.5 sacks in his debut. He says it could’ve been better.
Virginia Tech could not tackle LaNorris Sellers.
Sellers is an absolute unit in the South Carolina backfield. He proved it right out of the gates against the Hokies.
Comin’ thru 🤙 pic.twitter.com/bY7CEckCso
— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) September 1, 2025
The passer led the Gamecocks to an opening touchdown drive, capped by a 15-yard scoring scamper where he ran through a would-be tackler at the goal line.
He was held largely in check over the next few quarters before calling “game” in the final moments. With South Carolina up 17-11, he chucked a 64-yard bomb to Nyck Harbor.
TALK YOUR TALK! pic.twitter.com/FSWzjis4iZ
— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) August 31, 2025
Sellers then sealed the win with his legs in the closing minutes. The Hokies simply could not tackle him.
Does LaNorris Sellers take some sacks? Yes.
Does he also make plays like this? Also yes.
Again…these are the math-changing, game-altering plays on a 3rd-and-13 that Sellers is capable of. pic.twitter.com/UJya8lu24O
— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) August 31, 2025
Kemari Copeland provided perspective.
The defensive lineman had not one, but two chances to stop LaNorris Sellers on a crucial 3rd-and-13 play in the fourth quarter. He was unable to do so.
Copeland insists that if it were any other quarterback, he would’ve had a sack. Sellers is just different.
“I had so many plays that I left out there,” he said. “I could’ve walked away from this game with like two sacks, three tackles for loss… I could’ve done so much better in that game…
“A clip of me went viral missing this tackle. I wanna say, this dude, LaNorris, is strong as heck. Any other quarterback I would’ve sacked on this play… Then I got up and tried to chase him. He’s fast as heck, too!”
Copeland also revealed that he’d been DM’d by fans after the game. While he was unable to make that play in crunch time, he received overwhelming support from the Hokie Faithful.
“All y’all that’s sending me DMs and texting me saying I played a good game, I appreciate it. I worked real hard to get here.”
Kemari Copeland is playing with his third college football program. He started his career with Army, appearing in seven games. He then moved onto Iowa Western Community College where he won an NJCAA national title before transferring to Virginia Tech.
Copeland was considered a two-star recruit coming out of high school in Virginia. He developed into a Top 10 JUCO prospect by 2024. He credits his rise to hard work and dedication.
The Hokies are glad to have him on their front line. He’ll look to continue his production in Week 2 when the team hosts Vanderbilt.