I would have loved to see him go after Bret. I have a feeling it wouldn't have worked out very well for him.
Illinois 21, South Carolina 17 Postgame
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RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Looked like Seller knew it was a bull!!!! strat too lol
Our cop looked like he was waiting for their cops to do something. He looked like he was feeling froggy and waiting for them to jump.
sacraig
- The desert
You think that will play NEGATIVELY to recruits? They'll sell that as his energetically defending his players.
sacraig
- The desert
Is it possible to say this is the biggest win ever for the program? Maybe just slightly below the Juice game in Columbus?
Let's reset the stage here from South Carolina's perspective. You're one of the hottest teams in the country. 7 wins in a row in the SEC. You think you're good enough to get into the playoff. You get snubbed. Citrus Bowl. But...you don't get Michigan. You don't get Iowa. You get Illinois. Wow, how disrespectful. We are gonna kill those guys. Haven't you seen us play? We're gonna prove we should have been in the playoff.
So here we come. Virtual road game. Never beaten an SEC team. Nearly ten point underdogs. Nationally televised on a network peripheral to the SEC Network. Best receiver is out. And we win? Not just do we win, but we win against ref shenanigans which robbed us of a pretty obvious touchdown early on. We got some makeup calls for it, but either way, there was a lot going against us here. And we didn't win through some series of lucky bounces or bad play from SC. We beat them with tough, hard-nosed football on their turf with the world watching. And we got to watch our coach swing his di- ... Excuse me, arms at the other coach which got into his head, the broadcasting crew's heads, their players' heads, you name it.
We come out of it looking like the cooler cats and the better football team. In front a national audience, no less. Absolutely sublime, and I'm not sure we've ever seen it's equal here.
Let's reset the stage here from South Carolina's perspective. You're one of the hottest teams in the country. 7 wins in a row in the SEC. You think you're good enough to get into the playoff. You get snubbed. Citrus Bowl. But...you don't get Michigan. You don't get Iowa. You get Illinois. Wow, how disrespectful. We are gonna kill those guys. Haven't you seen us play? We're gonna prove we should have been in the playoff.
So here we come. Virtual road game. Never beaten an SEC team. Nearly ten point underdogs. Nationally televised on a network peripheral to the SEC Network. Best receiver is out. And we win? Not just do we win, but we win against ref shenanigans which robbed us of a pretty obvious touchdown early on. We got some makeup calls for it, but either way, there was a lot going against us here. And we didn't win through some series of lucky bounces or bad play from SC. We beat them with tough, hard-nosed football on their turf with the world watching. And we got to watch our coach swing his di- ... Excuse me, arms at the other coach which got into his head, the broadcasting crew's heads, their players' heads, you name it.
We come out of it looking like the cooler cats and the better football team. In front a national audience, no less. Absolutely sublime, and I'm not sure we've ever seen it's equal here.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Doesn't everyone?He must HATE Iowa.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
I’ll add four more -“Born on third base”. His dad is former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
But any sane parent will look at that and say “No chance I want my kid playing for that nut job. My kid screws up, and he may kill him.”
Contrast that to the video of Bret and McCray shared here earlier. THAT’s who I want my kid playing for.
The announcers were extremely uneducated and simply didn’t prepare for this game. They showed up to their job but didn’t have the skill to do it.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
The announcers did exactly what ESPN wanted them to do-advance the SEC narrative and dump on the Big Ten team.
It will be interesting to see how Fowler and Herbstreit deal with the Ohio State-Oregon game today since neither team is an ACC or SEC team. My guess is they spend 3 1/2 hours hyping the Sugar Bowl.
Or Coach going full Dirty Harry " Go Ahead make my day". "Well do you feel lucky punk."
blackdog
- Champaign
They barely knew anything about either team. They talked a lot about SC but it was almost entirely about Sellers the whole game. Obviously had done no prep work coming in besides maybe that morning.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Kirk played for OSU. I'd bet they make at least a little something out of that before ignoring the Rose Bowl
This won't play quite as well with his recent sideline antics, but in Beamer's pregame press conference he specifically commented on how Illinois was fundamentally solid, made very few mistakes, paid attention to details and to quote him, "did things the right way." Pretty funny he said that considering what transpired but more importantly, who has ever said that about an Illinois team? That shows how far we have come. Can't remember how many years I have said "If they would just play good fundamental football I could enjoy watching them and stomach some of the losses."
Who got injured?
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Considering how Herbstreit has spent a week dumping on IU, I’m skeptical.
Agree. Thank you Bret.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Listen, I enjoyed the game immensely but this is the kind of thing that really turns many fans off. At this point it’s so messed up I look forward to when they just call it a pro league and at least you know who’s on your team and who’s not.South Carolina’s star safety opted out at halftime. That probably helped open things up a bit.
Nick Emmanwori opts out of 2nd half of Citrus Bowl, will forgo final year at South Carolina
Nick Emmanwori didn't play in the second half of the Citrus Bowl game between South Carolina's football vs Illinois, confirmed he isn't returning.www.greenvilleonline.com
That’s the thing — “you wonder.” Others have posted that Beamer DID say what “you wonder.” Maybe they’ve seen a clearer clip than I’ve seen or have extraordinary lip reading skills, but I certainly couldn’t “see” those words being spoken. To say that is what happened smells of homerism to me.
Look, Beamer absolutely overreacted and IMO looked like an idiot. At the same time, Bret instigated the situation. I’m OK with that. He got into Beamer’s head, which certainly didn’t hurt the Illini’s chances. But I can also say if Beamer had done what BB did, people on here would be absolutely apoplectic.
The issue I have is that if one believes Bret’s explanation for his gesturing (and I have no reason not to), he wasn’t taunting but rather trying to make a point and show his displeasure with SC’s kickoff move. Yet, taunting is still the narrative being reported. Should Bret have ventured all the way across the field to do what he did? Probably not. Could Beamer have mistaken his actions as taunting? Certainly. Was his reaction completely over the top? Hell yes! And I take issue to what Beamer said in his press conference about Bielema’s actions being bush league (or something similar) because it sounded like he had heard Bret’s explanation, so it wasn’t taunting.
On a side note, I’ve been watching Get Up on ESPN to hear what they say about game/incident. Unfortunately, I missed the start of the show, but since I’ve been watching there has been no mention of game — though they’ve mentioned AL/MI game in two segments. Why is that? Could it be because announcers yesterday spent an hour or so beating the taunting drum when it turns out it might not have been taunting at all?
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Clarke while making the tackle
Having had time to reflect a bit on that thrilling game, a few things come to mind:
--Seems to me part of Beamer's weird behavior, which began long before the F-bomb tirade, was because he was shocked and his team unprepared for how tough and competitive the Illini were. SC's supposed dominance lasted precisely one series, the opening series. After that, the Illini more than held their own on the line of scrimmage.
--Usually, the underdog resorts to gimmick plays. Seems like when reality hit, Beamer kind of panicked and went into a hair-on-fire (which it appeared to be) strategy.
--The game plan to stop Sellers was superb. The kid has freakish athletic ability for a QB and is legitimately dangerous when he gets outside the pocket. But the Illini rushers did a great job of staying disciplined to keep him hemmed in the pocket. Meanwhile, the back end also did a good job except for the one broken-coverage chunk play. The SC offense had put up 33 vs. LSU, 25 vs. Alabama, 35 vs. Oklahoma and 44 vs. A&M. The only other teams to limit them were Ole Miss (3) and Clemson (17), and, as Paul Finebaum would explain, Ole Miss like SC was a national title contender (if only they had made the playoffs).
--I was OK with the Bielema hire, but not real excited to see a run-first type of offense. I still grumble at some of the early down play-calling, but it's clear to me that he has a very balanced approach that stresses toughness. That toughness takes a toll on the other team as the game wears on. In the end, the Illini were simply tougher than SC. When the game was on the line, the Illini cooly executed, an extension of their coach. On the other hand, SC exhibited the fake bully characteristics of their coach.
--Seems to me part of Beamer's weird behavior, which began long before the F-bomb tirade, was because he was shocked and his team unprepared for how tough and competitive the Illini were. SC's supposed dominance lasted precisely one series, the opening series. After that, the Illini more than held their own on the line of scrimmage.
--Usually, the underdog resorts to gimmick plays. Seems like when reality hit, Beamer kind of panicked and went into a hair-on-fire (which it appeared to be) strategy.
--The game plan to stop Sellers was superb. The kid has freakish athletic ability for a QB and is legitimately dangerous when he gets outside the pocket. But the Illini rushers did a great job of staying disciplined to keep him hemmed in the pocket. Meanwhile, the back end also did a good job except for the one broken-coverage chunk play. The SC offense had put up 33 vs. LSU, 25 vs. Alabama, 35 vs. Oklahoma and 44 vs. A&M. The only other teams to limit them were Ole Miss (3) and Clemson (17), and, as Paul Finebaum would explain, Ole Miss like SC was a national title contender (if only they had made the playoffs).
--I was OK with the Bielema hire, but not real excited to see a run-first type of offense. I still grumble at some of the early down play-calling, but it's clear to me that he has a very balanced approach that stresses toughness. That toughness takes a toll on the other team as the game wears on. In the end, the Illini were simply tougher than SC. When the game was on the line, the Illini cooly executed, an extension of their coach. On the other hand, SC exhibited the fake bully characteristics of their coach.
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