3 Key Questions for Illinois Football vs. South Carolina in Citrus Bowl

Whichever team has the answers should win the 2024 Citrus Bowl and secure a 10-win season

Nov 30, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Aidan Laughery (21) runs for a touchdown against Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, Illinois (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) will meet South Carolina (9-3, 5-3 SEC) in Orlando, Florida, in the Citrus Bowl in a show-me game for both squads.

The Gamecocks are arguably the hottest non-CFP team in the country, having won their last six contests, including a 17-14 victory at No. 13 Clemson (the eventual ACC champions) in their previous outing. Coach Shane Beamer and his crew – not to mention all of Columbia – would love nothing more than to bury the Illini on New Year's Eve and stick it to the CFP for passing over them.

Meanwhile, the Illini have won their past three games – two of them by double digits – but haven’t been tested recently in the way the Gamecocks have. Illinois hasn’t played a ranked team since No. 1 Oregon in October.

Only one of these teams will get to snag its 10th win for the first time in over a decade. Here are three big questions that will help determine whichof them ultimately does:

Can Illinois’ defense contain dual-threat QB LaNorris Sellers?

The Illini defense struggled mightily with dual-threat quarterbacks during the regular season. Purdue’s Ryan Browne scampered for 118 yards on 17 carries while going for 297 passing yards and three touchdowns against Illinois in his first career start in Week 7. More recently, Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis ran for 84 yards and two touchdowns on 13 rushes while adding 174 yards and two more scores as a passer.

The kicker for Illinois: South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers is not either of those aforementioned quarterbacks – he’s even better. The redshirt freshman truly embodies the label of a dual threat, having thrown for 2,274 passing yards and 17 touchdowns (not far behind the numbers of Illinois’ Luke Altmyer) and ran for 655 yards (more than any Illini running back on the season) on 4.4 yards per carry. For the Illini's sake, they had better have learned from their experiences against lesser dual-threat quarterbacks.

LaNorris Sellers showing off his INSANE speed for the 75-yard touchdown 🤯pic.twitter.com/hJREygIuDh

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 14, 2024

Who wins the ground game?

Running back Raheim Sanders (NFL Draft opt-out) won't play in this one, but Sellers, the Gamecocks' offensive line and backup runners Juju McDowell or Oscar Adaway figure to combine for a potent enough threat. On the season, the Gamecocks have amassed 2,267 rushing yards for an average of 4.4 yards per carry in the SEC, college football's premier top-to-bottom conference.

Illinois' rushing attack has progressed with each passing week. In their past three games, the Illini have averaged 5.2 yards per carry and 177.3 rushing yards. Still, none of those performances came against a defensive front as formidable as that of the Gamecocks. South Carolina's defense allows just 106.3 rushing yards per game (12th in the country), so expect the Illini to turn to Altmyer and the passing game even more frequently than usual in this matchup.

That's an @aidanlaughery HATtrick 🎩

Laughery gets his third touchdown on the day with a 31-yard run.

12:15 Q4 | #Illini 35, Northwestern 20

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/FqYzo890hD

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) November 30, 2024

Will South Carolina consistently pressure QB Luke Altmyer?

For Altmyer to put together the performance necessary for the Illini to pull off the upset, he must be well-protected. Illinois got away with poor protection in several games this season (most notably when Altmyer was sacked five times by Purdue), but there will be no getting past the Gamecocks without keeping Altmyer clean. One advantage for the Illinois: South Carolina will be without monster edge rusher Kyle Kennard (NFL Draft opt-out). But a Gamecocks defense that ranked fourth in the country in sacks per game (3.3) still has the potential to wreak havoc on the inconsistent Illini offensive front. Who wins that battle, and whether or not Altmyer has time and space to operate, may be the deciding factor in this matchup.

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