On Tuesday, the South Carolina football team will cap off its 2024 season in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl against Illinois.
For the past month, ever since the Gamecocks beat Clemson in dramatic fashion only to learn the College Football Playoff Committee didn’t seem to care much, the goal for this team has been to prove that was a mistake.
Or, as veteran Luke Doty said: “Go get No. 10. That’s really been the goal for us.”
With a win over Illinois, South Carolina would finish with a 10-win season for the first time since 2013 and only the fifth time in school history. For the Illini, it’s a similar story. They, too, have just four 10-win seasons in program history and haven’t accomplished the feat since 2001.
Perhaps that’s why both teams are close to full strength with only three combined opt-outs: WR Pat Bryant for Illinois and RB Rocket Sanders and EDGE Kyle Kennard for the Gamecocks — who will also be without TE Brady Hunt due to an injury.
“Our guys want to be here,” Beamer said Monday during a pre-bowl news conference, before talking about the speculation that some players are only competing in the bowl game to pick up an NIL check.
Said Beamer: “That’s not accurate with us. In fact, I changed it because I didn’t want that. I’m like, if they don’t want to be there, let them get the check at the beginning of December and they can go.”
South Carolina is plenty motivated for a bowl game it never quite seemed like it would land in. The Citrus Bowl is the only SEC-affiliated bowl game that gets to choose what team it wants from the conference.
It would have been crazy to think the Gamecocks would be the Citrus Bowl’s choice after they started 3-3 with a trio of SEC losses this season. Or even when Alabama and Ole Miss also missed out on the playoff.
But here they are in Orlando, with a chance to win 10 games for the first time in a decade and head into 2025 on an even higher note.
The challenge these past few weeks, Beamer said, has been balancing bowl practices with transfer portal visits and the month layoff between games.
“You also want to balance not wearing them out in the month of December,” Beamer said. “In our mind, we were playing a playoff elimination game every single Saturday after the Alabama game. That takes a toll from a mental standpoint, as well. It was a long year in a lot of ways.”
But it will conclude on Tuesday — perhaps with a 10th win and a Cheez-It bath.
2024 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl
Who: No. 15 South Carolina (9-3) vs. No. 20 Illinois (9-3)
When: 3 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Camping World Stadium in Orlando
TV: ABC
