LaNorris Sellers injury: South Carolina QB returns after first-half exit vs. Texas A&M

The sellout crowd inside Williams-Brice Stadium held its collective breath Saturday in the second quarter after South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers was sandwiched between defenders on a sack against Texas A&M and had to leave the game with an injury.

Sellers was slow to get up after losing a fumble on the play at the Aggies' 18-yard line, grabbing his left ankle before hobbling off to the sideline with the help of team trainers. Sellers re-entered the contest to open the third quarter during South Carolina's first possession and showed no ill effects of the first-half injury.

Sellers exited the injury tent on his own power, slowly walking toward the locker room with just over four minutes to play before intermission.

"We're concerned," South Carolina coach Shane Beamer told the ESPN broadcast at halftime. "He's got an ankle, and he's getting an X-ray on it. I don't have anything else."

The Gamecocks (5-3), slotted No. 21 in the first College Football Playoff rankings on the heels of three straight wins, need their best player available the rest of the way to remain in the postseason conversation.

Sellers was 10-of-15 for 151 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's game before leaving.

Sellers has accounted for 13 touchdowns during South Carolina's current win streak and was named the AP's National Player of the Week last time out after registering 397 yards of total offense and five touchdowns at Oklahoma.

Sellers threw an 84-yard touchdown pass to DJ Black and a 79-yard toss to Mazeo Bennett to highlight his performance. Both plays were made off schedule with Sellers outside of the pocket.

"Those are great plays. I mean, you worry about those plays from a protection standpoint, so you see him get the ball off," Beamer said after that win. "And I'm proud of our guys, too. When the quarterback scrambles, it's not like everybody just runs around blindly. Like, we have a plan of what needs to happen when the quarterback scrambles, and we worked a lot of that on the bye week.

"We talked about it this morning in our staff meeting: that, make sure we're big on scrambles because they're really, really good on defense, and they're probably going to get some pressure on our quarterback, and we've got a chance to hit some big plays in the passing game if we do. So, great to see those guys execute the scramble drills the right way.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.