South Carolina’s promising 2024 football season came to an end last week as the Gamecocks lost to Illinois 21-17 in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. 

The Gamecocks finished the regular season 9-3 and just missed out on a spot in the College Football Playoff. The team instead traveled to Orlando, Fla., for a date with the Illini, seeking its fifth 10-win season in program history and first since 2013. 

It was an emotional and mistake-filled game for the Gamecocks, but despite this, the contest was always within reach until the very end. 

"We ultimately weren't able to get it done," head coach Shane Beamer said after the game. “A lot of guys that have poured their heart and soul into Gamecock football and wanted so much for them to get that 10th win. We weren't able to get it done, but like I just told them in there, just don't lose sight of the journey that we've been on and what these guys have done since January.”

The Gamecocks struggled on offense in their first game under new play-caller and offensive coordinator Mike Shula. The team was plagued by turnovers and inconsistency all around. 

Quarterback LaNorris Sellers finished with 260 passing yards after completing 24 of 34 pass attempts. His dual-threat abilities were severely limited by the Illini’s defense as he finished with just 19 rushing yards, which tied his second-lowest total this season. 

"Obviously we wanted to win, but some things didn't go our way tonight," Sellers said. "We've just got to go back to work and focus on next season."

South Carolina struggled to finish drives throughout the game. The team made it inside the Illinois 25-yard line five times but scored just 10 points on those drives. Two turnovers on downs and a missed field goal cost the team much-needed points. 

“Key this game, this week was finishing, and we just didn't finish drives today,” Beamer said. “We weren't able to finish down there, whatever it be, offense and special teams. We all had a hand in it."

The Gamecocks ground game also took a step back against Illinois after being one of the team’s strong suits during its six-game winning streak. 

South Carolina finished with its fourth-lowest rushing total in a game this season after going for 130 yards against the Illini. The team was without top running back Rahiem “Rocket” Sanders who opted out of the game to focus on the upcoming NFL draft. 

On the defensive side of the ball, South Carolina was without top edge rusher Kyle Kennard, who opted out the entire game, and top defensive back Nick Emmanwori, who opted out of the second half. 

In the third quarter, emotions started to boil over as head coach Shane Beamer had to be held back after Illinois head coach Bret Bielema appeared to taunt the Gamecock sideline while one of his players was down on the field hurt. 

“It's heated and competitive out there, but in all my years of being around football, I've never seen an opposing head coach come over to the opposing team's sideline and basically make a gesture towards the opposing head coach,” Beamer said. “I think he was upset about something that we did on the kickoff return … I would say he needs to check the rule book because that's something that we cleared with the officials before the game. Disappointing. I've got a lot of respect for him. He's obviously done this for a long time, but in all my years of coaching, I've never seen that happen. An opposing coach come over, while his player is hurt and, basically, have something to say to the opposing head coach. I've got my own team to worry about.”

Multiple times in the game, Bielema and the Illini waited until late in the play clock to finish making their substitution, forcing the Gamecocks to snap the ball with little time to spare. It is a rule that if the offense makes substitutions, the defense is allowed to do the same without the offense snapping the ball. 

Illinois took full advantage of that rule and eventually made South Carolina take a timeout early in the second half. Losing that timeout would later come back and bite the Gamecocks.

On its last possession, the Gamecocks got into the red zone with three minutes left on the clock. The team made it to the seven-yard line but turned the ball over on downs after a pass from Sellers to tight end Joshua Simon fell incomplete. 

Illinois then got the ball and drained the clock. South Carolina eventually forced the team into a third down and would’ve been able to stop the clock and get the ball back if they had three timeouts left. But instead, they only had two. Illinois was then able to run the clock to zero and seal the win. 

Despite ending on a loss, it was still a very promising year for the Gamecocks. It was their best season under Beamer and a nice rebound from a turbulent 2023 season. 

The team will look to reload on talent in the offseason and improve internally to make another run next year. South Carolina begins next season on Aug 31 in Atlanta against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Beamer's father, Frank Beamer, is Virginia Tech’s all-time winningest coach and led the Hokies to 22 straight bowl appearances, seven conference titles and a spot in the 1999 national championship game. 

“I just told them in there, ‘Don't forget this feeling. We play Virginia Tech in 243 days, and we've got a lot of work to do between now and then,’"  Beamer said.