Five final thoughts, score prediction for South Carolina vs. Illinois in Citrus Bowl
No. 15 South Carolina will finish out its 2024 football season on the last day of the year. On Tuesday afternoon, the Gamecocks (9-3) will compete in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl against No. 20 Illinois (9-3).
It’s the first time South Carolina has played in the Orlando bowl game since 2014. The game will kick off at 3 p.m. Tuesday inside Camping World Stadium and will be broadcast on ABC.
Those are the facts. Here are some thoughts.
1. Chance for a 10-win finish
If you haven’t heard this already, there is no doubt the ABC commentators will pepper the broadcast with the stakes: If South Carolina wins the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, this year’s Gamecocks would be just the fifth 10-win team in program history.
They would join four of the best squads of all time at South Carolina:
- 1984 — Went 10-2, lost to Oklahoma State in Gator Bowl
- 2011 — Went 11-2, beat Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl
- 2012 — Went 11-2, beat Michigan in the Outback Bowl (site of Jadeveon Clowney’s hit)
- 2013 — Went 11-2, beat Wisconsin in the in the Capital One Bowl
Yet, if South Carolina beats Illinois on New Year’s Eve, it would be the first time a Gamecocks team has earned its monumental 10th victory in a bowl game. In every instance South Carolina has won game No. 10 in a season, it came against Clemson.
Is this a small thing? Yes. But it means something.
In an era of bowl games where opt-outs and transfers dominate the discussion, only three combined players from South Carolina and Illinois have opted out. That’s remarkable. And don’t overlook the significance of both USC and Illinois coming into the game with nine wins.
As Gamecocks safety Nick Emmanwori said a week ago: “It’s a huge thing to get that 10th win. For the city. For the state of South Carolina. For the program.”
2. A chance to be ranked in preseason
For all intents and purposes, preseason polls are useless. But they do serve as a barometer of outside perception — which is fun for fans if your team is ranked and being talked about.
And for South Carolina supporters, preseason hype hasn’t been there in a long time. The last time the Gamecocks were ranked in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 was 2014, when the Gamecocks came in at No. 9.
One would think that will change next season — especially if the Gamecocks are victorious in the Citrus Bowl.
South Carolina will be coming off a nine- or 10-win season. And while they’ll be losing a majority of their defensive starters, the Gamecocks will be returning quarterback LaNorris Sellers and edge rusher Dylan Stewart.
USC will most likely be a Top 25 team come August. The question might be: Is it in the top 15? Top 10?
3. Is LaNorris Sellers the top SEC QB heading into 2025?
This summer at SEC Media Days, there was a lot of discussion about what second-year quarterback was going to break out in 2025. Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava? Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold? Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman?
The discussion rarely reached Sellers.
A year later, Arnold and Weigman have transferred, and Sellers has elevated himself to a different conversation.
Yes, it can actually be said: Is Sellers the best SEC quarterback heading into next season?
Here’s the argument. Georgia’s Carson Beck and Ole Miss’ Jaxon Dart are heading to the NFL. Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Texas’ Quinn Ewers might do the same.
That would mean Sellers’ competition as top SEC quarterback would include Iamaleava, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Oklahoma’s John Mateer, Florida’s DJ Lagway and maybe Texas’ Arch Manning.
Aside from Iamaleava, none of those guys have a better resume than Sellers, and none won more SEC games than Sellers in 2024.
If there is a top tier of SEC quarterbacks, how could you not include Sellers? How could you not think that he has just as good of a chance as any other QB in the SEC to elevate himself, to lead his team to the playoff and to be in the Heisman discussion?
4. Looking back at preseason predictions
Back in late August, I gave my three bold predictions for the 2024 season. For the sake of accountability, I felt now would be a good time to look back at them.
No. 1: Rocket Sanders will rush for more yards than anyone not named George Rogers.
This one did not come true. Sanders needed to get to 1,200 yards and only finished with 881. But, hey, if he didn’t get hurt early against Akron, wasn’t limited against Ole Miss and played in the bowl game, then Sanders of course could have made it happen.
No. 2: A tight end will lead the team in receiving touchdowns
It happened! Tight end Josh Simon did not just have the most receiving touchdowns (6) on the team, but also had the most catches (34) and most yards (450). Simon was Sellers’ top pass catcher — which probably isn’t what the Gamecocks expected or hoped for.
No. 3: South Carolina will lose a game on a missed kick
This one sort of came to fruition. South Carolina kicker Alex Herrera missed a 49-yard field goal as time expired against LSU that would have tied the game. Even if Herrera made it, there was no guarantee the Gamecocks would win. While 49 yards was the edge of Herrera’s range, the Gamecocks did not lose the game just because of that kick.
5. South Carolina has great transfer recruiters
The best pitch South Carolina could give a transfer portal prospect is a rundown of who started for the Gamecocks this year: LB Demetrius Knight (transfer), edge Kyle Kennard (transfer), OL Torricelli Simpkins III (transfer), OL Kamaar Bell (transfer), RB Rocket Sanders (transfer), WR Gage Larvadain (transfer) and WR Jared Brown (transfer).
First-year transfers were arguably the key reason why South Carolina went from five to nine (maybe 10) wins in just one season. So, of course, as the Gamecocks are bringing potential transfers on visits, they are having the former transfers as recruiters.
A few weeks ago, Simpkins took Wake Forest transfer Nick Sharpe — who signed with South Carolina two weeks ago — on his visit.
“(I) told him how it’s great over here, man,” Simpkins said. “If you wanna come get better, come get coached by a great coach — coach (Lonnie) Teasley is a great coach — and show what you can do, this is the place to be. You can come compete for a spot and they’re gonna give you a chance.”
SCORE PREDICTION: South Carolina 38, Illinois 24
