Four Gamecock predictions for South Carolina vs. Illinois in the Citrus Bowl

South Carolina and Illinois will do battle on Tuesday, December 31st in the Citrus Bowl. The two teams have never met previously. The Gamecocks are going for their 10th win on the season, something that has happened just four other times in program history. Ironically, Illinois also will vie for its fifth-ever 10-win season. Kickoff will be at 3:00 p.m., and ABC and ESPN+ will carry the game.

South Carolina fans have plenty of storylines to watch ahead of the contest. However, with four days left before the Citrus Bowl, I am making four predictions about how I see this game going.

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Shane Beamer will have something unexpected ready

It’s hard to guess exactly what it will be, but Shane Beamer will have something up his sleeve next week. His previous two trips to bowl games with the Gamecocks have shown that he likes to unleash a couple of surprises when given plenty of time to prepare.

During his first year (2021), the Gamecocks started DK Joyner at quarterback, a change from what the offense had done all year. Joyner and Zeb Noland combined for a masterful effort against North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl win. The offense also featured tight end Jaheim Bell in his biggest role with the team.

Then, in 2022, South Carolina pulled out all the stops against Notre Dame. The Gamecocks took deep shots to Xavier Legette (something that wasn’t common yet but served as foreshadowing for 2023), and punter Kai Kroeger threw a touchdown pass to his long snapper, Hunter Rogers. Those moves weren’t enough to earn the Gator Bowl victory.

What will Beamer and his staff have in store for Illinois? No one knows for sure. Whatever it is, South Carolina fans hope it gives their favorite team the edge.

Offense will thrive

The South Carolina offense should have a good day in the Citrus Bowl. LaNorris Sellers is still LaNorris Sellers, and until he has a down performance, no one should expect anything other than elite production.

Illinois’ defense isn’t great, either. This year against a softer schedule than USC’s, the Illini gave up over 370 yards per game. They also logged just 29 sacks and 19 turnovers. For comparison, South Carolina’s defense (a really good unit) gave up 313 yards per game, sacked opposing quarterbacks 40 times, and managed 22 turnovers.

With how well the Gamecock offense performed over the back half of the year, there could be plenty of opportunities for radio play-by-play man Todd Ellis to declare, “Touchdown Carolina!”

Of course, the biggest variable that could affect this prediction is at playcaller. Former offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains is now the headman at App State, and Mike Shula is the Gamecock OC. However, because Shula worked closely with Sellers and the offense this season, fans shouldn’t expect a drop-off next week.

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Defense will have its chances

While the offense should have a good day, the South Carolina defense will have plenty of opportunities to do the same.

Illinois threw for over 250 yards in just one game this season (against 1-11 Purdue) and will be without their top receiver as Pat Bryant has opted out ahead of the NFL Draft. The Gamecock defense is at its best when they can get pressure on the quarterback, and against Illinois’ wounded passing attack, they should be able to do just that.

Luke Altmeyer is a pretty good quarterback, but without his top weapon, can he beat this Carolina defense? His top remaining pass-catcher, Zakhari Franklin, had a good year, though he also struggled with drops this fall.

The Illini have a couple of solid backs, but unless offensive coordinator Barry Lunney can dial up a consistent passing game, the Gamecocks will be able to load the box to stuff the run. Then, with their opponent behind the chains, South Carolina’s defense would have its best chance to rack up sacks and potential turnovers in 3rd-and-long situations.

Records will fall

All Tonka Hemingway and Kai Kroeger have to do is take the field on Tuesday to break a Gamecock record. The 5th-year senior duo will reach 61 games played in the Citrus Bowl, besting Parker White for the Carolina record.

Kroeger also will set a new single-season record for punting average with a couple of good boots. His 47.6 average this season is just behind Joseph Charlton’s 47.7 average mark from 2019.

As a team, South Carolina is two sacks shy of tying 2012’s all-time record of 42. Freshman Dylan Stewart is 1.5 sacks off of Jadeveon Clowney’s freshman pace of eight quarterback takedowns.

Tight end Josh Simon will own the single-season Gamecock tight end touchdown record with one more score. Currently, he is tied with Clyde Bennett’s six scores.

Quarterback LaNorris Sellers is less than 50 yards from passing Todd Ellis’ freshman record. He also is three touchdowns shy of Ellis’ record for freshman passing scores.

Most, if not all, of these South Carolina football records will fall against Illinois.

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