The one absurd thing about Shane Beamer's wild confrontation with Bret Bielema that no one is talking about
One of the highlights (or lowlights, depending on your perspective) of the 2024/25 college football bowl season so far is the wild confrontation between South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and Illinois head coach Bret Bielema during the Cheez-Its Citrus Bowl earlier this week. Beamer had to be held back from going after Bielema at […]
One of the highlights (or lowlights, depending on your perspective) of the 2024/25 college football bowl season so far is the wild confrontation between South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and Illinois head coach Bret Bielema during the Cheez-Its Citrus Bowl earlier this week.
Beamer had to be held back from going after Bielema at one point in the second half of South Carolina's loss to Illinois after Bielama made a "T" gesture toward the Gamecocks' sideline.
Bielema explained after the game that he was annoyed by a South Carolina player who put his arms out like a "T" on a kickoff return (something that typically indicates that the player won't be returning the kick) before running a trick play.
Most of the talk about the Beamer/Bielema drama has centered around the altercation between the two coaches on the field.
But while it can be argued that both coaches could've handled that situation differently, I don't think the altercation is that big of a deal. Things can get heated when coaches and players are competing against each other. It's just part of sports. Emotions run high and sometimes coaches and players make choices that they normally wouldn't make. It's nothing that anyone should be upset about.
The real talking point, in my opinion, should be on the trick play that South Carolina tried to run.
Because it was a completely horrible idea by Beamer.
Take a look at the play.
I guess Beamer thought he was going to pull a quick one and generate a huge return with that trick play (the ball was returned to the 25 yard line, which is where it would've been spotted had it been a touchback).
But having a player throw the football all the way across the end zone is an incredibly risky play. If that ball isn't caught, it could roll out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Or even worse, it could've bounced around before being recovered by a Illinois player for a touchdown.
Why risk that just to gain a couple of extra yards on a return (and again, South Carolina didn't gain a single extra yard because of this trick play)?
Folks can be upset about the confrontation between the coaches or they can be upset by what some believe was an unethical trick play by Beamer.
But ultimately, I think the takeaway here is that it was an incredibly dumb, risky, and completely unnecessary play by South Carolina. The Gamecocks ended up losing the game anyway, but they're lucky this play didn't completely backfire on them.
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