Everything Illinois coach Bret Bielema said during Sunday's Cheez-It Bowl press conference

The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl held press conferences for South Carolina coach Shane Beamer and Illinois coach Bret Bielema on Sunday. Here is everything Bielema said.

BRET BIELEMA: Super excited. I know our players are going to be equally excited. We’ll get together tonight. We actually have a victory dinner after every game we win. And last week, when we beat Northwestern, I let the guys have a couple days off. We’re bringing them back in the building.

We have a team meeting at 7:00, give them the details. But to get a chance to play a game with this team, another opportunity, is absolutely awesome. To play a team like South Carolina, obviously a red-hot football team.

A tremendous amount of respect for not only their program and their players and Coach Beamer. I called him to say congratulations.

Super excited to play an SEC opponent. Someone of high character and value. I know Coach Beamer is known for doing things the right way.

Super excited about the opportunity. I want to thank Hogie, Steve Hogan.

I was thinking about this the other day when they said we were probably going to head this way. My first year as a head coach in 2006, I played in the Citrus Bowl against Arkansas. It was Hogie’s first year as a director. It was my first year as a head coach. So, we kind of broke into that game as rookies.

Fortunately for us we were able to win that one and beat a very good Arkansas team. And that’s always been kind of my starting point when I start thinking about postseason play.

Super excited. I know it’s on New Year’s Eve night this year. But last night I was sitting on my couch watching some college football. But my 5-year-old and 7-year-old wanted to have my laptop out looking at rides at Universal Studios.

Different perspective than I had in 2006, now with two baby girls excited to get down there. My wife’s from Tampa. We’ll have a lot of family coming on over to Orlando. Excited for them.

We actually have 17 players on our roster from Florida, the most in the Big Ten. It’s been a staple of mine throughout my history as a head coach. I started recruiting South Florida and really the state of Florida back in 1994 and have signed over 100 players from Florida.

Of those 17 guys on the roster, I believe 11 or 12 of them are actual starters. They’re not just players on a roster; they’re some of our main players on defense — Gabe Jacas, Xavier Scott; Dylan Rosiek is a linebacker who is injured, but a really good player. Seth Coleman is from Florida. Obviously, several other players on offense. So, to get those guys a chance to play in front of their family and friends will be pretty awesome.

[GamecockCentral: Subscribe for $1 for 7 days]

Q. Could I get a few thoughts from LaNorris Sellers, if you’ve had a chance to see him at all and what your thoughts are about him?

BRET BIELEMA: Super excited, not only him but their entire offense has been very exciting. I have watched him just a little bit during the course of the year.

Last week we didn’t know who we were going to play. We had been told there would be a good chance we’d be in this game. But they said between South Carolina, Alabama and Ole Miss, seeing how things played out.

I told our coaches, let’s not prepare for something that we don’t have to do. We haven’t jumped into the meat of our preparation.

But I’m super excited. Anytime you play an SEC opponent, someone that’s ranked in the top 20, the quarterback is going to make a lot of things go. But I would also say I’ve got tremendous respect for all three phases of the game. I know Coach Beamer, in his past history, special teams are a huge priority in that program. I’m really excited for the prep coming up here in the next 48 hours.

Q. What would a tenth win mean for the team as you continue on the journey and make a name for the program?

BRET BIELEMA: I’ll go over a little bit my history. My first year we went down there. We were an 11-1 football team, and 12 wins would have given us the most wins in program history at Wisconsin.

So when we did that that day, it gave us the most wins in Wisconsin history. And fortunately for us this year, if we can get to 10 wins at this bowl game that would allow us to tie four other teams in Illinois history with the most amount of wins.

Very exciting. I think anytime you can win 10 games in college football is a huge deal — and I would say all bowl games. The way this one plays out especially, this will be a catalyst for us moving forward.

We had 14 players get recognized with all-conference honors a week ago. Of those 14 players, 11 of those returned.

For us specifically this is going to be a very big statement at the end of our year with a 13th guaranteed game, but also hopefully a catapult into next year. We’ll have a quarterback back in Luke Altmyer, who in my opinion might be one of the best in college football to return next year. Could be Heisman Trophy candidate. We have a host of running backs. We have three of our offensive linemen back.

On defense, we probably return our seven key players. We lost two really good defensive linemen, one outside linebacker. Potentially have a lot of good players coming back to a team that, in my opinion, will be able to make a great run in college football next year.

Q. You mentioned Gabe and Xavier, earlier, a couple of defensive players from the Sunshine State. What can fans expect to see when you guys get down here?

BRET BIELEMA: Gabe is a dynamic edge guy. He plays a little bit of outside linebacker, a little bit of defensive line. A very strong, powerful, athletic guy that, I think, this year really came into his own. I think he had 12 tackles against Michigan, was the Big Ten Player of the Week. Very explosive guy. He loves to complete, absolutely loves to compete.

He was a state champion wrestler in Florida, from the Fort Pierce area. I know his mom and family will be excited.

A common connection—it sounds like a joke, but a good buddy of mine by the name of Jack Daniels is the head coach of Cardinal Newman High School. Back then he was the head coach at Dwyer High School, and he gave me the name of Xavier Scott.

And Xavier had no other offers. He was kind of a very under-recruited kid coming out of COVID. He came here, we gave him a scholarship, started his first game against Michigan as a corner and has really never looked back. He’s on the Thorpe Award watch list for one of the top 15 DBs in college football. We love him.

And we signed his little brother, Xanai, who just lost to Clearwater Central Catholic last week in the state playoffs. But in that game C.C.C. was playing against Cardinal Newman and there were two brothers, Shauny Newton, who is a high school player at C.C.C., his brother Johnny Newton was a player for us last year. Got drafted to the Washington Commanders.

They played against Cardinal Newman, who has Xavier Scott’s little brother Xanai — so, two future teammates that we signed on Wednesday played against one another. There were actually three players on that field we’ve signed to play for us in the future.

So we signed, I believe, five guys from Florida last week. Another five guys joining us on next year’s roster, which is absolutely awesome.

Q. When you talk about Florida, Illinois hasn’t played in an Orlando bowl game in a long time. 1990 was the last time you guys were down here. What do you think it will mean for the Illinois fan base to have this celebration, this trip to Florida to look forward to?

BRET BIELEMA: It’s awesome. I’m super psyched. We’ll fly down on the 25th, get a full week down there. I’m sure our fans will start popping down there on the 28th, 29th, getting ready for the New Year’s game.

I know our fans are very excited. This has been a really fun team to watch. We started off the year and opened up with a win. Then we had a highly contested — at that time we weren’t ranked; Kansas was — we had a thriller here at our home stadium and beat Kansas. Then we went on the road and beat a ranked Nebraska team at the time.

And then we were able to put ourselves in a position — we lost at Penn State but then put ourselves in a position — we had a home, 100-year anniversary game against Michigan at the time. They were ranked. We were ranked. We were able to beat Michigan on our home field to get to 6-1 to become bowl eligible actually in the stadium on the 100th anniversary—one day shy of 100 years when Red Grange did it against Michigan in one of the most decorated games in Illinois, really college football history.

This season has been pretty special all the way through. And then to have a couple of thrilling wins at the end of the year. We had a great one to beat Rutgers on the road. We had our last two games on the road, and to beat Northwestern pretty handily at the end of the year was awesome.

Just a lot of really good, unique things that have happened to this football team. I think not only fans following us, I think they really liked this team. They liked the way they play. And I’m sure we’ll have a lot of them down in Orlando.

Q. You talked about special players. Luke Altmyer, certainly a special player, has had a wonderful season at cornerback — 20 interceptions, five touchdowns. What can you say about his performance this year? And what’s he bringing down to Orlando —

BRET BIELEMA: No matter what program or what level you’re at in football, you’ll go as far as your quarterback goes. Luke has been that for us all year. He’s a very dynamic player. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised when they watch him and understand this is a guy that can run it, he can throw it. Very highly intelligent. Very, very good composure. Very accurate thrower.

We’ve got some good surrounding parts around him. He’s a transfer from Ole Miss. He’s a guy that kind of came in here, we were his second chance on things and really has taken advantage of it. Started, I believe, seven games his first year for us.

And then came in this year and has been a rock steady guy for us all the way through. One of the best statistical quarterbacks in the country on what he’s been able to accomplish. A guy I know who is really excited not only for this year but the future as well.

I would say this, Luke would be the first to tell you he gives all of his accolades to all those around you. He’s a guy that’s really loved by his teammates. He’s a guy that builds confidence in not only our offensive players, but I think our whole football team.

I think the way he lives and goes about his business is inspirational to our entire football team — offense, defense, special teams, to our coaches. He’s got a really good close relationship with our offensive staff, especially with Coach Lunney.

He’s a very intentional leader, and I know a guy that’s very excited to get one more opportunity with his group of guys that have been special for him in his growth, but also very excited about the future.

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!