Josh McCray rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 7:29 left, to lead No. 20 Illinois to a 21-17 Citrus Bowl victory over No. 15 South Carolina Tuesday afternoon in Orlando, Fla.
Luke Altmyer completed 13 of 22 passes for 174 yards with one score and one interception, while Gabe Jacas racked up three tackles for loss as Illinois (10-3) earned its first 10-win season since 2001. It also marked the Illini’s first win over an SEC team.
“To be the fifth team in program history (with 10 wins) is something very, very special,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. “I’m excited and honored to be a part of this one, but (our guys) know we have a chance to do something very special in the future. We want it to be sustainable success. This was the culmination of 2024, but it was really the start of 2025.”
Redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers hit on 24 of 34 passes for 260 yards and one touchdown for South Carolina (9-4), which had its six-game winning streak snapped. Oscar Adaway rushed for 69 yards and one touchdown and caught seven passes for 37 yards.
But the Gamecocks came up empty on two fourth-down passes in the red zone.
“We weren’t able to finish down there,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “Whatever it be, offense and special teams. We all had a hand in it.”
After Illinois went backward on the game’s first possession, South Carolina used favorable field position to set up Alex Herrera’s 29-yard field goal at 7:24 of the first quarter.
Illinois responded with a 59-yard crossing pattern from Altmyer to Hank Beatty that got the Illini inside South Carolina’s 1-yard line, but Debo Williams was credited with a forced fumble on the next snap — a plunge by McCray — that Dylan Stewart recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
On the final play of the first quarter, Illinois capped a 76-yard drive with its first score. Altmyer scrambled and found Zakhari Franklin along the sidelines at the 1, and Franklin reached across the goal line for a 15-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead.
South Carolina squandered a scoring chance midway through the second quarter when it ran an unsuccessful trick play on fourth-and-7 from Illinois’ 13. The Gamecocks came up empty again on the half’s final play when Herrera doinked a 41-yard attempt off the upright.
South Carolina seized a 10-7 lead in the third quarter when Adaway broke through the middle on fourth-and-1 and sprinted 36 yards down the right sideline for a score. Illinois regained a 14-10 lead with 2:23 to go in the third on McCray’s 3-yard blast up the middle.
The Gamecocks forged the third lead change of the second half on the first snap of the fourth quarter. Sellers faked a handoff and lobbed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Simon for a 17-14 edge.
Illinois answered with McCray’s 9-yard touchdown run on a misdirection pitch to the left. South Carolina had a chance to retake the lead, but Sellers threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-4 inside Illinois’ 10 with 3:08 left.
McCray’s 60-yard rush on the ensuing drive allowed the Illini to run out the clock.
–Field Level Media
