Illinois celebrates after defeating South Carolina 21-17 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Photo by Glenn Sattell
ORLANDO, Fl. – There are still those who will insist that bowl games don’t matter. They obviously didn’t catch the Citrus Bowl.
Illinois and South Carolina were two up-and-coming football programs with a lot to prove at Camping World Stadium in their first-ever meeting on the gridiron. Both were looking for a 10-win season, coming into the game with identical 9-3 records. Both were looking to continue the upwards trend they had set in the 2024 season for their respective programs.
For 60 minutes they played as though the stakes were high and the rewards were worth the effort. Because contrary to what some still believe, especially in the playoff era, it did matter. It mattered greatly. And it showed, judging by the extreme effort put forth by both squads. It was quite possibly the best and most meaningful non-CFP game of the postseason, and quite possibly the most entertaining.
The two teams literally fought back and forth, trading scores along the way, with South Carolina scoring first on a 29-yard field goal by Alex Herrera, and Illinois scoring last on a 9-yard touchdown run by Josh McCray that provided the winning margin in a highly-competitive and well-played 21-17 victory over the Gamecocks.
McCray earned the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl MVP Award, rushing for 114 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries. His 60-yard jaunt in the fourth quarter was the longest of his career, and it was his first 100-yard game since chalking up 142 yards at Penn State in 2021.
“For a running back to get MVP, you don’t really see that a lot, but that’s pretty awesome to me in my world,” McCray said. “As an offense I feel like we gelled very well, especially in the second half. I feel like we were able to move the ball how we wanted to.
“In the first half, we couldn’t really get things going. I went out there, lost the ball on like the second drive of the game. I was kind of like pretty hard on myself. But my boys kept me up in there, kept my head on right. Then, we just got the job done.”
Illinois held off South Carolina to win the 2024 Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Photo by Glenn Sattell
McCray scored earlier on a 3-yard run to put Illinois in the lead, 14-10, after three quarters. The Illini led 7-3 late in the first quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Luke Altmyer to Zakhari Franklin. Altmyer completed 13 of 22 passes for 174 yards. He finished the season with a passing efficiency rating of 144.04, the second-highest in a single season in program history.
For Illinois, it’s the first 10-win season since 2001 and just the fifth in program history. A program on the rise under head coach Brett Bielema, the Fighting Illini has won 23 games over the past three seasons.
“I’m excited and honored to be a part of this one,” Bielema said. “We have a chance to do something very special in the future. We wanted to have sustainable success, and this was the culmination of 2024, but it was really the start of 2025.”
South Carolina trailed 7-3 at halftime but took the lead early in the third quarter on a 36-yard touchdown dash by Oscar Adaway III. They led again, 17-14, on the first play of the fourth quarter when quarterback LaNorris Sellers threw 6 yards to Joshua Simon.
Sellers completed 24 of 34 passes for 260 yards.
But Illinois went 75 yards in 12 plays midway through the final period to score the game-winner.
Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer congratulated the Illini on their victory.
“They made the plays when they needed to make them, and that’s very much the story today,” Beamer said.
