Last year's Cheez-It Citrus Bowl was a spectacle, and we aren't just talking about football. What happened on the sidelines gave South Carolina fans more than they bargained for. In the heat of the moment, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema made a gesture that Shane Beamer and all of Gamecock Nation didn't take lightly. After a South Carolina player went down, Bielema appeared to flash a taunting signal to the Gamecock sideline. That did not sit well with Shane Beamer, and tensions boiled over onto the field. Things only got spicier in the days following, as the situation spilled over onto social media.
Bielema later claimed the gesture was not meant to be a taunt, but was actually a "T" signal used in reference to a kickoff return play. Regardless of ill-intention or not, the NCAA since ruled that the "T-signal" will now be treated as a fair catch going forward, effectively calling the play dead.
But in case you were wondering if that cheesy tension was still lingering between the coaches, rest assure, it's not. According to a clip shared by the Unnecessary Roughness account on X, Bielema confirmed that he and Beamer hashed things out shortly after the scuffle in January.
“Yeah, I actually called him… I get caught up in the moment,” Bielema admitted. “There’s a coach's convention in January, and I knew his dad [Frank Beamer] was getting an award. I tried to make it, couldn’t, so I called Shane. We had a cordial conversation. You’ve got to get past those moments.”
Aside from the rivalry and sideline scuffles, both South Carolina and Illinois are looking ahead to the 2025 footbal season. After nearly missing the College Football Playoff last year, the Gamecocks are coming into the fall looking for redemption, hoping to clear the path to the Playoffs.
Unfortunately for fans who want to see a Beamer vs. Bielema rematch, a regular-season game between the two programs isn't in the cards this year. Illinois opens against Western Illinois on August 29, and South Carolina takes on Virginia Tech on August 31. The only way there will be a round 2 for these two teams would be in the postseason.