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Controversially dissed for an at-large spot in the 2024 College Football Playoff (CFP), the University of South Carolina football team has drawn a New Year’s Eve showdown against No. 20 Illinois instead.
The fifteenth-ranked Gamecocks (9-3, 5-3 SEC) will do battle against the Fighting Illini (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) in the 2024 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida at 3:00 p.m. EDT on December 31, 2024.
The bowl berth is South Carolina’s third in four seasons under head coach Shane Beamer. In 2021 – Beamer’s first year in Columbia – his team defeated North Carolina 38-21 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl to cap a 7-6 campaign. The following season, the Gamecocks lost 45-38 to No. 21 Notre Dame in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl to finish the year 8-5.
After a disappointing 5-7 record in 2023, South Carolina failed to qualify for a bowl bid – and seemed unlikely to do so again this year given the brutal schedule the team was facing. Following an inauspicious start to the year – and an embarrassing mid-season egg-laying against Ole Miss – the odds of a postseason appearance for Beamer seemed to lengthen even further.
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Against the odds, though, Beamer’s team reeled off six straight wins – including four victories over ranked opponents. Driving that run? A dominating defense under coordinator Clayton White which finished the regular season ranked No. 14 in scoring defense (17.83 points per game) and No. 15 in total defense (313.2 yards per game).
While that wasn’t quite enough to qualify for a playoff field which included guaranteed slots for underperforming conferences and rewarded soft schedules, it was sufficient to land the Gamecocks a Top 20 bowl matchup against a Big Ten opponent.
Like the Gamecocks, Illinois faced multiple ranked foes in 2024 – with mixed results. The Illini defeated then-No. 19 Kansas at home, then-No. 22 Nebraska on the road and then-No. 24 Michigan at home. None of those teams are currently ranked, however. Illinois lost to No. 1 Oregon and then-No. 9 Penn State on the road in its only games against currently ranked opponents.
Illinois is in its fourth season under former Arkansas (and Wisconsin) coach Bret Bielema, who is enjoying his winningest season as a head coach since 2011. Bielema’s squad is led by junior quarterback Luke Altmyer, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound dual-threat signal caller from Starkville, Mississippi who threw for 2,543 yards and 21 touchdowns this season (against only five interceptions). Altmyer, who played his first two seasons at Ole Miss, has also rushed for more than 200 yards and scored four touchdowns on the ground this year.
His top target? Senior wideout Pat Bryant, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound speedster from Jacksonville, Florida who needs just 16 yards against the Gamecocks to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
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As for South Carolina’s record against currently ranked foes, it has wins over No. 16 Clemson, No. 19 Missouri and losses to No. 11 Alabama and No. 13 Ole Miss. The Gamecocks also defeated Vanderbilt and Texas A&M when those programs were ranked – and were robbed of a victory over then-No. 16 LSU in September due to an erroneous unnecessary roughness penalty against senior defensive end Kyle Kennard.
SEC schools have won the last three Citrus Bowls – and five of the last six. The SEC has posted a 20-12 mark in the game since 1993, which is when the conference began its tie-in. As for the Big Ten, its schools are 11-19 in the game over that same time period.
South Carolina is 2-1 all-time in the series – falling to Miami of Ohio in the 1975 when the game was still known as the Tangerine Bowl but defeating Nebraska in 2012 and Wisconsin in 2014 when the game was known as the Capital One Bowl. Illinois won its only appearance, defeating Virginia in the 1990 installment of the game.
Kickoff from Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida on New Year’s Eve has been set for 3:00 p.m. EST on New Year’s Eve with ABC providing national television coverage.
BANNER: Travis Bell Columbia SC Photographers
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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1 comment
You are NOT a playoff team. Win more games – simple solution. Alabama, arguably the greatest program over the last 50 years is NOT in the playoff – and they beat you. You have zero argument that you “should be in” . . .
Quit with the “robbed” commentary. You were not robbed vs. LSU. Blind side hit on the QB – plain and simple. Illegal hit caused by an undisciplined team. Second time in that game being stupid hits by undisciplined players. Get better as a team and the problem solves itself. However, your cheerleader in charge is incapable of a conference title, or any other title for that matter. Good day . . .