Recap and highlights: No. 22 Syracuse proves too much for Washington State in Holiday Bowl 52-35
SAN DIEGO — The crimson injury tent collapsed and Kyle Williams emerged, rejoining his Washington State team on the sideline. The teammates he greeted were different than they were all season, nearly 30 players in the portal for Friday’s Holiday Bowl, but as WSU tried to make up a two-score deficit on No. 22 Syracuse, Williams’ return breathed life into the Cougars and their comeback chances.
It vanished in one play. Early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Zevi Eckhaus dropped back, waited for Williams to spring open to his left and lobbed a pass his way — except Eckhaus left it short and the ball sailed into the hands of SU safety Jalil Martin. In his first FBS start, Eckhaus had tossed his second pick.
In this 52-35 loss to Syracuse, WSU was never completely out of things, but Eckhaus’ late interception vaporized any momentum the Cougars could have generated on that drive. They paid for it dearly, taking their fourth straight bowl game loss, heading into an offseason mired in uncertainty.
All in all, things could have gone much worse for WSU, which was down nearly a dozen starters for this one. The Cougs were also without each of their top three defensive tackles, all of whom have entered the portal, and their secondary was undermanned too. That’s no way to slow Orange quarterback Kyle McCord, who picked on WSU’s cornerbacks to the tune of 24-for-34 passing for 453 yards and five touchdowns.
Without a defensive coordinator, interim head coach Pete Kaligis and the Cougs just couldn’t overcome the rash of transfer portal departures that ravaged the team this month. Out of action for WSU were also running back Wayshawn Parker, receiver Kris Hutson, linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah and safeties Jackson Lataimua and Adrian Wilson, making it almost impossible to overcome the loss of star quarterback John Mateer, who decamped for Oklahoma earlier this month.
In that way, this wasn’t the WSU team that raced to an 8-1 start to this regular season, climbing as high as No. 18 in the College Football Playoff rankings. It wasn’t even the club that took three setbacks to end the season, nor the one that topped Texas Tech and rival Washington in back-to-back weeks in September. Without coach Jake Dickert, who accepted the head coaching job at Wake Forest last week, this group was a shell of itself.
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Still, the Cougars put up a compelling fight, at least early on. In a 31-for-43, 363-yard, three-touchdown and two-interception outing, Eckhaus led WSU on two touchdown drives in the first quarter, zipping into the end zone for one score and finding Williams for a long catch-and-run for the second. Later in the first, reserve receiver Leon Neal blocked a punt and San Diego native Josh Meredith recovered it for a touchdown, taking a 21-14 lead.
Shorthanded itself, WSU’s defense delivered two stops in the first frame, including a three-and-out on the Orange’s fourth series of the game. The Cougs may have been operating without the playmakers that keyed many of their biggest moments, including Al-Uqdah and starting cornerback Ethan O’Connor, but they weren’t showing it.
That unit just couldn’t keep it up. Cornerback Steve Hall, one of the Cougars who played despite being in the transfer portal — a policy the team voted to adopt — was picked on early in the game. So was fellow cornerback Jamorri Colson. Neither could stop SU receiver Trebor Pena, not in the middle of the field or the end zone, which the Orange found twice in the first quarter.
Syracuse’s offense never left that groove. The Orange used a 21-0 third quarter to secure a 35-21 lead. The Cougs responded with Eckhaus’ best play, a scramble and flick to sophomore wideout Carlos Hernandez, but their defense yielded three more scores to put the game out of reach: A 45-yard touchdown pass, a 30-yard field goal and a 33-yard touchdown connection, good for a comfortable lead, enough to make Eckhaus’ late touchdown pass to redshirt freshman receiver Branden Ganashamoorthy a footnote.
Now WSU enters an offseason with lots of questions to answer: Who will the next head coach be? Which players will opt to leave? Will Dickert bring along any leftover WSU assistants — Kaligis, receivers coach Nick Edwards, offensive line coach Jared Kaster? How will those developments affect the roster, the incoming signing class, which has already suffered three decommitments?
The Cougs could have looked much worse in this Holiday Bowl before addressing those questions. Either way, though, they will need answers.
Fourth quarter
0:09 – Syr 52, WSU 35: Little consolation for the Cougars, as Eckhaus throws his third touchdown of the game, a 9-yard score to Ganashamoorthy right before the clock hits zeros. We’ll be back shortly with a full recap.
3:23 – Syr 52, WSU 28: McCord dumps off a pass to Allen, who runs it in for a 33-yard touchdown.
Orange keep firing and score on a three-play, 80-yard drive. McCord has 453 yards passing and five touchdowns. Allen has 17 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns to go with three receptions for 45 yards and another score.
5:02 – Syr 45, WSU 28: Janikowski hooks a 37-yarder and that will about do it for the Cougars.
9:19 – Syr 45, WSU 28: Jackson hits a 30-yard field goal to push it to a three-score lead. Things looking late for the Cougars now, but they can get back in it with a quick score.
14:15 – Syr 42, WSU 28: Bad time for Eckhaus’ second pick of the game and the Orange have a chance to really pull away early in the fourth quarter. Syracuse has the ball at its 30.
Third quarter
1:19 – Syr 42, WSU 28: Pena puts a stop to the Cougars’ comeback with a 45-yard touchdown, where he put a simple move on the WSU corner and burned him down the sideline.
Two-play, 49-yard drive for the Orange after a nice kickoff return.
2:06 – Syr 35, WSU 28: Eckhaus snaps a long scoring drought with a 42-yard pass to Hernandez for a touchdown. Cougars back within one score.
Eckhaus stepped up in the pocket and lofted one for Hernandez in stride. Eckhaus has completed 20 of 26 attempts for 262 yards and two touchdowns.
7:08 – Syr 35, WSU 21: Same situation for the Orange, who drive all the way down the field for Kennedy to miss a 39-yarder. No harm done for the Cougs, who can try and cut this one back down to a one-score game.
10:26 – Syr 35, WSU 21: Cougars drive down the field, but come up empty after Janikowski misses left on a 41-yard field goal attempt. Tough start to the half for WSU, which hasn’t shown much on defense.
Second quarter
0:13 – Syr 35, WSU 21: McCord throws his third touchdown pass of the half, and his second to Gadsden right before the end of the second quarter.
Cougars defense has been blasted so far, giving up 364 total yards. McCord is 15 of 23 for 218 yards and three touchdowns. WSU will receive the second half kickoff.
2:22 – Syr 28, WSU 21: Orange get the ball back after a stop on fourth down, where they were ready to carry Eckhaus out of the stadium.
Syracuse driving, getting good gains on the ground, where Allen just went over 100 yards for the game.
7:34 – Syr 28, WSU 21: Allen punches in his second touchdown of the game, a 2-yard rush. Allen has 11 carries for 88 yards, having a good game on the ground to compliment the Orange’s passing attack.
10:23 – Syr 21, WSU 21: Eckhaus’ first incompletion is an interception, a wobbling deep pass caught at the Syracuse 8.
12:53 – Syr 21, WSU 21: McCord hits Gadsden with an 18-yard touchdown pass to tie it back up.
McCord is 8 of 14 for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
First quarter
0:17 – WSU 21, Sry 14: There’s another special touchdown for the Cougars. Meredith, who has already entered the transfer portal, scoops up a blocked punt for a 12-yard TD to regain the lead.
1:22 – Syr 14, WSU 14: Whoa! There goes Williams for a 66-yard touchdown from Eckhaus. Cougars strike right back with a quick TD drive and this one has the making of a shootout.
Stellar start for Eckhaus and Williams, who have connected on four passes for 116 yards. Eckhaus is 7 of 7 on pass attempts.
2:32 – Syr 14, WSU 7: Orange march right down the field and score a 12-yard touchdown run from Allen. This time the two-point conversion is good.
McCord targeted Meeks down the left sideline, going against WSU CB Hall, who has already been beaten multiple times on back shoulder throws.
3:54 – WSU 7, Syr 6: Nothing doing on the Cougars second drive. Orange set up with good field position after a 34-yard punt return by Pena to midfield.
7:03 – WSU 7, Syr 6: McCord leads the Orange right back down the field to answer with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Pena. The two-point conversion attempt was overturned after replay review.
After starting 0 of 3, McCord hits all three of his passes on that drive for 52 yards.
9:47 – WSU 7, Syr 0: Dream start for Eckhaus and the Cougars, as the WSU QB runs in a 4-yard touchdown to cap a eight-play 68-yard drive.
Eckhaus opens 3 of 3 for 55 yards, hitting Williams for receptions of 31 and 24 yards.
13:44 – Syr 0, WSU 0: Great start for the Cougars defense, who get Mccord to open 0 for 3 on his pass attempts. Quick three-and-out and WSU takes over at its 31. Here comes Eckhaus for his first start as a Cougar.
15:00 – Syr 0, WSU 0: Cougars win the toss and defer to the second half, so the Orange will take the ball first.
Pregame
Washington State is hardly the same team it was at the end of the regular season.
The Cougars (8-4) are without their head coach, both coordinators, starting quarterback and over 20 total players that started this 2024 season.
Yet, WSU plays into the postseason and will face No. 22 Syracuse (9-3) in the Holiday Bowl tonight. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. on Fox 28 from Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.
The Orange finished on a three-game win streak and placed fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Quarterback Zevi Eckhaus will handle the snaps for WSU. The first-year Cougar from Bryant completed 6 of 7 attempts for 61 yards and a touchdown this season in two games of action.
Series history
Syracuse won the only meeting with WSU, a 52-25 victory in 1979. The Cougars are 1-3 in the Holiday Bowl and have lost its last two trips in 2016 and 2017.
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