with a statement victory in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Eve. According to Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer, some of the Gamecocks players didn’t even know who they were playing during the week leading up to kickoff!
It is unclear as to whether the SEC school was trying to be funny and troll the Big Ten or if it was a truly embarrassing reality. Either way, this latest nugget of information makes the losing side look even worse.
Coming into the college football postseason, there was a lot of conversation about the new 12-team Playoff and who deserved to get in. Much of the chatter had to do with the Southeastern Conference. Quite a few pundits argued that a three-loss Alabama, three-loss Ole Miss and three-loss South Carolina should get in over a two-loss team like SMU or even a one-loss team like Indiana.
The Gamecocks played their best ball down the stretch and only lost at home to the LSU Tigers in September because of a bogus officiating blunder. They still didn’t get in.
As a result, Shane Beamer’s squad dropped down to the Citrus Bowl against a three-loss Big Ten opponent. Illinois won the game in dramatic fashion. Both coaches nearly came to blows during a heated altercation in the second half. It was intense.
Altmyer began his career at Ole Miss so he is very familiar with the hubris of the SEC. The redshirt junior signal-caller said that it reached a fever pitch earlier in the week as both teams descended upon Orlando for bowl week. South Carolina players apparently referred to the Illini as Syracuse.
Yikes. If that is really what happened, and the Gamecocks actually did not know who they were playing, head coach Shane Beamer needs to reevaluate his approach to bowl prep. That’s embarrassing…
