In an action-packed Citrus Bowl on Tuesday, Illinois came out with the victory over South Carolina. According to Fighting Illini QB Luke Altmyer, though, they had a little extra motivation heading into the matchup.

Altmyer called out “disrespect” from the Gamecocks before the game. He specifically noted some players were calling Illinois “Syracuse,” which gave the Illini an extra spark heading into an intriguing Big Ten vs. SEC showdown in Orlando.

It’s part of a trend Altmyer noticed for a long time. A Starkville (MS) native who previously played at Ole Miss, he saw the perception of Illinois as a program first-hand.

“It’s Big Ten ball,” Altmyer said after Tuesday’s game. “I’ve been hearing all this talk about ‘SEC, SEC, get in the Playoff,’ things like that. I’m just tired of the disrespect. I think Illinois has been a disrespected program for a long time. I know that because I lived in that area and in that conference. And I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

“I remember a couple days ago, we were at the Fun Spot doing a team activity with the other team, and they were calling us Syracuse. They didn’t know we were playing. Not that we needed any extra motivation, but that was all we needed to hear and we gave them that Big Ten belt.”

Altmyer had a solid day for Illinois, completing 13 of 22 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown, along with an interception. But Josh McCray led the charge for the Fighting Illini with 114 yards and two touchdowns in the running game to help lead the charge.

The story of the game, though, came early in the second half. That’s when Bret Bielema and Shane Beamer exchanged words in a heated moment by the sidelines. Bielema went over to attend to an injured player, but appeared to taunt Beamer and the South Carolina sideline – and that move didn’t sit well with the Gamecocks coach.

“It’s heated and competitive out there, but in all my years of being around football I’ve never seen an opposing head coach come over to the opposing team’s sideline and basically make a gesture towards the opposing head coach,” Beamer said. “And I think he was upset about something that we did on the kickoff return in regards to Juju (McDowell) on the throw-back to Nyck Harbor, but I would say that he needs to check the rulebook, because that’s something that we’ve cleared with the officials before the game.

“Disappointed. I have a lot of respect for him, he’s obviously done this for a long time. But in all my years of coaching I’ve never seen that happen. An opposing coach come over while his player’s hurt and basically have something to say. I’ve got my own team to worry about.”