South Carolina coach Shane Beamer saw enough to provoke his Illinois opponent, but he lost.
Illinois cornerback Jaheim Clark is injured in a tackle with South Carolina quarterback Lanoris Sellers during the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday. Later, this wild scene happened.
University of Illinois coach Bret Bielema ran across the field to check on Sellers, arms wide until Beamer and the Gamecocks sideline found him.
This ridicule immediately enraged Beamer, who ran onto the field looking for Bielema.
Beamer had to be physically restrained by staff and referees. Beamer turned back at one point, yelled at Bielema, then returned to the sideline fired up.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in all my years of coaching,” Beamer told reporters after South Carolina’s 21-17 loss. “The opposing coach comes in when a player is injured and basically says something to the opposing coach.”
Both coaches acknowledged after the game that the dispute arose over a signal given by South Carolina’s kick returner during the third-quarter kickoff.
A player who makes the classic arms-spread signal will usually send the ball flying over his head and not return it.
However, Shamcocks handled the kick and attempted a lateral play, but ended up with a tackle on the 25.
Beamer told reporters that the Big 12 officiating staff and their signals are allowed to be used before games, and as long as the returner doesn’t wave his arm to signal a fair catch, it’s legal. .
“Why didn’t he discuss it with the officials and why did he feel the need to come here and look at me and say something when the players were on the ground and make a move like this? You have to ask him.’ I was full of you know what to do,” Beamer said. “That’s what I take issue with. I’m a competitive guy, so if someone does that to me, I’m going to hit back because I thought it was bush league.”
Bielema said returning the kick is legal, but it goes against the spirit of using that signal to limit injuries on kickoff returns.
“That ethic evaporated there because our kids stopped running,” Bielema said… “He thought I did that to him. I made that (gesture) to all the bystanders at the dam…I want them to understand that I know what happened.”
It’s unclear if the excitement of the incident carried over, but Bielema beat Beamer by taking a late substitution a few plays later and forcing South Carolina to take a timeout. While South Carolina finished the season with a 9-4 record, Illinois got the win and finished with a 10-3 record, with Bielema getting the last laugh.