When EA Sports College Football 25 hit the stands in July 2024, it became a sensation that took over the video game world. According to the November report from Circana, the game is the best-selling sports video game in U.S. history in terms of dollar sales.
The South Carolina Gamecocks quickly became a popular team to use in the game, and junior wide receiver Nyck Harbor became what many would call a "cheat code" in the game.
Every player receives an overall rating decided by the game, along with a rating of every player's specific attributes. The rating is used as a relative scale to compare players and their individual skills. In College Football 25, Harbor was an 82 overall, but harnessed an elite skillset with 99 overall speed, 99 overall acceleration and 88 overall agility.
With that much speed and acceleration in the video game, the go-route from redshirt sophomore quarterback LaNorris Sellers to Harbor turned into a play that was used so often it turned into a cliche.
The star wide receiver's ability in the video game turned Harbor into somewhat of a household name on the college football landscape, but, so far in his college career, Harbor had yet to show that type of action on the actual field. In his first two seasons with the Gamecocks, Harbor caught just 38 passes for 571 yards and four touchdowns.
Despite the lack of overall performance compared to expectations, Harbor's rating in the video game came from his impressive athletic profile. A 6-foot-5, 235-pound five-star recruit from Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C., Harbor enrolled at South Carolina as a dual athlete, starring in both football and outdoor track. Harbor was ranked as the No. 21 recruit in the country and the No. 1 "Athlete" in the country according to On3.
As a freshman during the 2024 outdoor track season, Harbor displayed historic levels of speed. His 10.11 100-meter dash time is the third-fastest in program history, while his 20.20 200-meter dash time is the second-fastest outdoor time in program history.
With attention growing around Harbor and his virtual explosion on College Football 25, questions arose if he could play the part of the elite wide receiver that he was portrayed to be. Harbor did his best to put those doubts to rest with three catches, 99 yards and a touchdown against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Aug. 31, arguably his best game in a South Carolina uniform.
The biggest highlight of the night for the South Carolina offense looked all too familiar to Gamecock fans and fans of the video game: the signature Sellers to Harbor go-route for 64 yards to give the Gamecocks a comfortable lead.
After the game, Harbor gave a nod to the fans of EA Sports College Football who were waiting to see that play on the real field.
"I feel like the fans have been waiting more than I did," Harbor said. "We completed that ball plenty of times in practice. Now we got the shot to do it in the game."
This season is Harbor's first season at South Carolina where he is solely dedicated to football. Without sprinting during the 2025 outdoor track season, Harbor entered the season focused, something Sellers noticed during the summer.
"He's putting in the work for it. Glad he's coming out there shining," Sellers said. "He had a full off-season with me and the offense, just being out there running routes and stuff. He's more comfortable catching the ball and stuff like that. He just looks more natural."
Harbor credited Sellers for the execution on the play and didn't mince his words on how talented he thinks his quarterback is.
"(Sellers) threw an excellent ball, just right in the bread basket," Harbor said. "(I) didn't have to go too fast, didn't have to go too slow. It was just a perfect ball by the best quarterback in the nation."
Head coach Shane Beamer said the play call was something that offensive coordinator Mike Shula worked with Sellers on in the summer, and that Beamer's son Hunter can be thanked for directing Sellers to throw the deep route to Harbor. Beamer acknowledged the hard work Harbor put in during the summer to get to that point.
"Nobody works harder," Beamer said. "I'm so happy for him. He's such a great young man. It's pretty awesome."
What's next?
Harbor will be looking for more deep balls when he and the rest of the South Carolina football team take on the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Sept. 6 at Williams-Brice Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.