For most South Carolina fans, this is a blind spot.

Two years ago the Gamecocks played Notre Dame in their bowl game, a national brand on television every week. The 2021 bowl game was against North Carolina, a local opponent plenty of fans are familiar with.

But Illinois? South Carolina has never faced the Illini in football, marking a first-time opponent for this year’s Citrus Bowl. But who exactly is Illinois, and how did it land here as the top non-playoff team out of the Big Ten?

Here is a quick look at the match-up three weeks before the teams hit the field in Orlando.

Like South Carolina, Illinois enters this game at 9-3. And like South Carolina, a win would mark a major program milestone, tying the program’s all-time record for wins in a season.

Two of the three losses Illinois took were to teams in the College Football Playoff, losing 21-7 at Penn State and 38-9 at No. 1 Oregon. The other was a one-score home loss to Minnesota, dropping the game 25-17.

Outside of that, though, Illinois earned its way here with some impressive wins. The Illini have three wins over teams who were ranked at the time, beating then No. 19 Kansas, No. 24 Michigan and No. 22 Nebraska. It also ended the season on a three-game winning streak, closing out the regular season with victories over Michigan State, Rutgers and in-state rival Northwestern.

Everything starts with quarterback Luke Altmeyer, who has been a maestro at taking care of the ball. Altmeyer has 21 touchdown passes to only five interceptions this season, completing over 60 percent of his passes for 2,543 total yards. Wide receiver Pat Bryant is an explosive top option, coming in just shy of 1,000 receiving yards (984) with 10 touchdowns, just one shy of the rest of his teammates combined.

Three running backs all have at least 50 carries this year in as balanced a rushing attack as the Gamecocks have faced all year between Aidan Laughery, Josh McCray and Ca’il Valentine.

Defensive backs Xavier Scott and Torrie Cox Jr. has been a ballhawks with seven interceptions between them, with Scott registering the Illini’s only defensive touchdown of the season against Kansas.

Turnover margin is a big part of it for this team. Illinois is +7 in the department this year, and Altmeyer’s care with the ball has Illinois tied for sixth in the country for teams who have thrown the fewest interceptions. This team has also been very efficient in the red zone, scoring at least a field goal on 41 out of 46 trips inside the 20 and getting 28 touchdowns, a top-30 national clip.

And one special teams aspect has been elite. Illinois is fifth in the entire country in fewest kickoff return yards allowed, booming 36 touchbacks this year and only averaging 14.9 yards per return when opponents do get a chance to take the ball out.

In what could play heavily into South Carolina’s strengths if the Gamecocks have most of their defensive line available, Illinois has struggled to protect this year. The Illini have allowed 31 sacks and 66 tackles for loss, the latter figure putting them outside the top-100 nationally. Opponents are averaging 2.6 sacks and 6.6 tackles for loss per game against Illinois.

And for as good as the red zone offense has been, red zone defense has been a struggle. Illinois is 90th nationally in the category, allowing points on 37 of 43 red zone possessions and 24 touchdowns this year.

There is of course one noteworthy connection between the two schools. Illinois wide receiver Justin Stepp was on staff in the same position for the first three years of the Shane Beamer era before departing to accept the same role in Champaign.

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