South Carolina coach Shane Beamer had to be held back by team staff members after Illinois coach Bret Bielema taunted the Gamecocks during the third quarter of the Citrus Bowl. This is the first-ever matchup between these two programs, but the game has been chippy right from the start.
The incident occurred when Bielema walked across the field to check on injured Illini defensive back Jaheim Clarke. Bielema then held up his arms in an apparent signaling of substitution, which caused Beamer to run onto the field incensed. Beamer had to be held back and could be seen telling the game’s sideline reporter, “you saw what he did.”
Illinois had been taking advantage of late substitutions all game, forcing Beamer to burn two timeouts. The South Carolina coach has been visibly upset about the strategy, but it is legal.
“It’s heated and competitive out there but in all my years of being around football, I’ve never seen an opposing coach come over to the opposing team’s sideline and basically make a gesture toward the opposing head coach,” Beamer told reporters after the game. “I think he was upset something that we did on the kickoff return in regards to Juju (McDowell) on the throwback to Nyck (Harbor), but I would say he needs to check the rulebook because that’s something we cleared with the officials before the game.”
The Illini would go on to win 21-17, and the post-game handshake between Beamer and Bielema was civil despite the in-game confrontation.
