Shane Beamer analyzes play-calling of Mike Shula in bowl game

Injuries, the transfer portal and players declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft put new South Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula in a tricky spot as the Gamecocks’ play-caller during the Citrus Bowl vs. Illinois.

Ultimately falling to the Fighting Illini 21-17, South Carolina held the lead midway in the fourth quarter and still had the services of starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers. However, the Gamecocks were not able to find the endzone during the final 7:29 of regulation.

Despite the results, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer credited the job Shula was able to do given the circumstances.

“I thought it was smooth,” Beamer said postgame. “Certainly, it’s not the easiest situation for him to be in, where you’re calling plays for the first time this season. Not to say that he was poor by any stretch of the imagination. We moved the ball. We just didn’t convert in some critical situations and whatnot, but did some good stuff, tried to mix it up, but, certainly, we’ll all be better.

“We all had to step up our games today. We weren’t just missing our former coordinator, but there was a graduate assistant and an analyst that weren’t here today, too. Everyone had to kind of adjust their roles and, certainly, could have been cleaner and a little bit better, but we will be going forward.”

South Carolina out-gained Illinois 390-357 in total yardage and was aided by the Gamecocks’ defensive unit who forced two turnovers.

In the end, the Gamecocks would fall one score shy of winning their 10th game of the season — something that hasn’t been done since 2013 when they won 11 games under Steve Spurrier.

“The way that group came together. I hoped that they would be remembered for that, that in life, adversity happens and adversity comes your way, and when we dealt with adversity at 3-3, no one in our program blinked,” Beamer said. “To run off six wins in a row like we did and have a shot at the playoff going into the last weekend. … We talked about it in our team meeting last night, the legacy that they left.”

South Carolina now looks ahead to the 2025 season, where expectations remain high for Shane Beamer and company following their best season under his guidance yet. They’ll kick off next season on Aug. 30 against LIU-Brooklyn.