South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was fully prepared to fight Illinois head coach Bret Bielema during Tuesday’s college football game in Orlando. The Citrus Bowl almost got out of hand!
It was an angry meltdown of epic proportions that took place late in the third quarter.
Bret Bielema used late substitutions to his advantage throughout the entire 2024 college football season. He often calls for the Illini to switch out a few of its defensive players at the last-possible moment to try and slow down an opposing offense. Per the rules, if the offense subs one of its players, the defense is entitled to a substitution of its own. The offense cannot snap the ball until the substitution is complete.
Not only did Beamer have to take his foot off of the gas, he was forced to call multiple timeouts during the bowl game on Tuesday because of Illinois’ shenanigans. Bielema frequently waited to use his legal substitution as the game clock ticked down to zero. The Gamecocks could either take the delay of game penalty or burn a timeout. Their head coach elected to proceed forward with the latter.
Here is just one example:
Bret Bielema is toying with South Carolina with these insanely slow substitutions pic.twitter.com/xReG3D8sDz
— Jordan Kaye (@jordankaye_23) December 31, 2024
Illinois’ substitution strategy is not against the rules, but could be seen as unethical. Beamer was furious. Bielema had a good laugh at his opponent’s anger. He also took it one step further and taunted him with a “timeout” and/or “substitution” signal while walking past the South Carolina huddle. It was not subtle!
As could be expected, the gesture did not go over well. Beamer, quite literally, charged at Bielema and was ready to throw hands.
Beamer just rushed at… I think Bielema?? pic.twitter.com/FTyjIBc2MD
— Bud Elliott (@BudElliott3) December 31, 2024
Both benches cleared during the tirade but neither team came to blows.
Shane Beamer lost his cool!
The 47-year-old had to be physically restrained by his staff before things potentially got out of hand. Bret Bielema wasn’t fazed in the slightest.
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) December 31, 2024
Neither coach was charged with a penalty. The officials allowed cooler heads to prevail during an electric one-possession game and chose not to make it all about themselves. That was greatly appreciated.
Much like how Lane Kiffin forced a change with the fake injury rules, Shane Beamer’s outrage toward Bret Bielema and Illinois’ late substitutions might lead the NCAA to reconsider its rules during the offseason. Neither side did anything illegal but it has clearly become an issue.