Tennessee will take on Illinois in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 in Nashville, TN. The Vols previously played in the College Football Playoffs against Ohio State, while the Fighting Illini are coming off a win over South Carolina in last year’s Citrus Bowl.
During that Citrus Bowl meeting, a mid-game altercation between Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer overshadowed parts of the contest. The two coaches had a heated exchange late in the third quarter, with Beamer needing to be held back by his assistant coaches while screaming at Bielema.
South Carolina used a fake touchback signal on a kickoff return as a trick play to gain some extra yards. The Gamecocks player made a “T-Signal” with his arms on the kick, which can signal the forfeiting of a return, but then lateralled the ball with the play still active.
Just a few plays later, an Illinois player went down on the field with an injury. Bielema went to check on his player, but as he passed the South Carolina sideline while walking back to his side, he made the T-Signal himself, followed by a wide shrug with his arms. Bielema was clearly showing his frustration with the previous kickoff.
Beamer then burst off his sideline and began yelling at Bielema. Beamer had to be held back by officials and assistant coaches as he got his message out to Bielema across the field.
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“There’s nothing illegal, they didn’t do anything illegal, but it put us in a position that the ethic of what that is got evaporated, because our kids stopped [running],” Bielema said after the game, via ESPN.
Bielema added that he didn’t believe that anything was illegal or wrong with South Carolina’s play, but that he had “never seen it done in any level of college football.” Bielema also said that he first learned about the T-Signal while coaching at the NFL level, to avoid the risk of injuries on kickoff, according to ESPN.
Beamer, who did acknowledge that the signal is commonly used as a touchback indicator, said that he spoke to the officials about the move before the game and received confirmation that it was legal to use. It was perhaps a shady tactic, but one that South Carolina felt was legal and could be used to get an upper hand.
A few months later, in mid-April, the NCAA rules panel officially made a change to the T-Signal rule, according to ESPN: “If any player on a kickoff return team makes a ‘T’ signal with his arms during the kick, the team gives up the right to return the kick, and the play will be whistled dead.”
The two coaches continued to take a few jabs at each other on social media in the days following the game, but the situation ultimately fizzled out with the season over. It did make for a memorable moment during the bowl season, though.
Happy New Year and congrats on a great season…. #HappNewYear2025 #CFBPlayoff https://t.co/tUtQNcZw61
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) January 1, 2025
Illinois won the game by a score of 21-17 on New Year’s Eve in Orlando. The Illini will look to make it back-to-back bowl wins in a game against Tennessee this December.
Tennessee and Illinois will both enter the Music City Bowl with 8-4 records. The Volunteers opened up as a 6.5-point favorite, according to DraftKings.
The game will be played at 5:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 30 in Nashville’s Nissan Stadium.
This is the best explanation of everything that happened and I couldn’t agree more. Except I wasn’t taunting Coach I was telling the whole SIDELINE that we knew the standard for football at every level for years has been disregarded moving forward. #HappyNewYear2025 https://t.co/lFfDdCSqto
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) January 1, 2025
