Emotions ran high in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl between South Carolina and Illinois on Tuesday.
Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer was livid after Fighting Illini head coach Brett Bielema appeared to be taunting him while an Illinois player was being checked out after an injury.
After the game, Beamer discussed the moment between him and Bielema.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for him and have my own team to worry about, but in all my years of football I’ve never seen an opposing team’s coach come over to the other sideline and make a gesture toward the other coach,” Beamer said, per WYFF’s Marc Whiteman.
Bielema was asked afterward if he was singling out Beamer with taunt.
“I did it to the whole damn sideline,” he said, per WFTV’s Alex Walker.
There’s more to the story than Bielema walking across the field and trolling Beamer with the substitution signal. Throughout the first half, Illinois made the most of the substitution rules that allowed it to run South Carolina’s play clock down on offense. Beamer was clearly upset with Bielema’s actions, and the taunting in the third quarter finally set him off.
Even with the outburst from Beamer and the taunting from Bielema, there were no flags called and the two sides managed to finish the game in a somewhat peaceful manner.
Unfortunately for Beamer, his squad couldn’t get the last laugh as Illinois walked away with a 21-17 win.
Though their season didn’t end with a win, it was a mostly successful year for the Gamecocks, which won nine games for the first time since 2017. South Carolina won nine regular-season games for the first time since 2013 when Steve Spurrier was still at the helm.
It was a complete turnaround in Beamer’s fourth season after South Carolina finished 5-7 a year ago. The Gamecocks were in the College Football Playoff mix late in the year thanks to six straight wins, three of which were against ranked opponents.
