TV take: With Fox’s top crew on the call, Zevi Eckhaus proves he ‘can play’ during WSU’s Holiday Bowl loss
Fox is not really into the bowl business anymore.
College football, overall? Sure. The network is a big part of the reason why the old Pac-12 doesn’t exist anymore, having supplied the money the Big Ten used to entice the two L.A. members to stab the other 10 in the back in 2022.
Fox, however, does have one bowl left in its portfolio.
Coincidentally, it is one of the Pac-12’s legacy games, the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. The bowl in which Washington State found itself Friday night, matching up with the ACC’s fourth-place finisher, Syracuse.
Fox, with its top crew, the trio featured in the network’s top games, Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft, brought the nation the Cougars’ fourth consecutive defeat, a 52-35 shootout to the 10-3 Orange.
What they saw
• There is no worse national putdown than to eliminate the traditional name of the conference WSU and Oregon State are in the process of rebuilding.
Johnson has to know that. But it didn’t stop him from, in his first minute on the air, saying Syracuse was facing, “out of the Pac-2,” Washington State.
In all the Big Ten games I watched this season, I never heard Johnson call the Big Ten, “the Big Eighteen.” Nor did he call the Big 12, “the Big 16” even though those numbers are accurate.
Maybe it’s because Fox isn’t joined at the hip with the Pac-12 as it is with those two conferences.
• Washington State started quickly, even before Johnson could call the Cougs “undermanned” for the first of innumerable times. WSU forced a Syracuse punt after the opening kickoff and started at its 32. The Cougars scored eight plays later, the longest a 31-yard pass from new starting quarterback Zevi Eckhaus to senior Kyle Williams.
“I’ll tell you what, this has been a dream start,” Klatt said as the Cougars moved down the field on that first drive. “You think of the month that this program just had. And the turmoil they’ve been dealing with. Coaches leaving, players leaving, and every one of these guys, including their center Devin Kylany, he told us, ‘Hey, we’re playing for one another. We want to finish this the right way.’ ”
They finished that drive and the first quarter the right way. The drive ended with Eckhaus picking his way through the middle of Syracuse’s defense for 4 yards and a 7-0 lead. The quarter ended when Leon Neal Jr. blocked a punt and Josh Meredith carried it in 12 yards for a 21-14 lead with 17 seconds left.
In between, Williams had his biggest play, hauling in a short pass from Eckhaus and weaving his way for a 66-yard touchdown.
• Syracuse has an exceptional offense. Quarterback Kyle McCoy, an Ohio State transfer, set an ACC single-season passing yardage mark and finished his final game with 453 yards on 24-of-34 passing. He also threw for five touchdowns.
Coupled with the Syracuse rushing attack – 154 yards on 25 carries – that attacked the Cougars’ Achilles’ heel – the transfer portal took the heart out of the WSU defensive front – and the Orange put up 606 yards in total offense.
What we saw
• Could it be the Holiday Bowl was Nick Edwards’ audition? The wide receiver coach called WSU’s plays for the first time, following Ben Arbuckle’s defection to Oklahoma. An audition, quite possibly, for some other school, as Jake Dickert’s Wake Forest move will mean at least a new head coach.
If it was an audition, the offense’s performance earned Klatt’s admiration, especially with John Mateer also in Norman and other key pieces scattered throughout the country.
“He’s done a really nice job,” said Klatt early in the second half after describing Edwards’ resume.
So did Eckhaus and the Cougars’ offense, which finished with 472 yards.
Eckhaus, the Culver City, California, native who Klatt noticed was wearing In-N-Out socks for his first Cougars start, completed 31 of 43 passes for 363 yards and three scores. He tossed two interceptions and barely avoided two others.
Williams, who hurt his knee late in the third quarter but returned, caught 10 of those throws for a Holiday Bowl-record 172 yards and a touchdown. Carlos Hernandez added a career-high eight catches for 80 yards.
“Zevi Eckhaus, folks. This kid can play,” Johnson yelled, just after Eckhaus bought time and flipped a perfect dime to Hernandez for a 42-yard touchdown that pulled WSU within 35-28 with 2:06 left in the third quarter.
It was the Cougars’ last hurrah, until his touchdown throw with nine seconds left allowed WSU to cover the 18-point spread.
• It seemed fitting the Cougars’ 8-5 season, which started so gloriously, would end in another tough defeat. And that, with 30 players in the portal, at least a third of them starters, it would be their second-worst loss, by margin, this season.
Oh, and one more thing. That it would feature a Big Ten officiating crew that struggled mightily.
A couple of impossible-to-miss calls were actually missed. The first was after Syracuse’s first score, McCord’s 19-yard toss to Trebor Pena. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, though it took a review to determine the obvious, that Jackson Kennedy’s right foot was out of bounds – by at least half his foot – as he tried to leap for the right pylon. It was called good on the field.
But that was not the worst miss. That honor goes to a call on the same sideline, as Jackson Meeks battled Jamori Colson on the Orange’s last first-half drive.
Colson was called for pass interference. Syracuse declined. Why? The officials called the pass a catch, although Meeks was a) out of bounds and b) dropped the ball. Surprisingly, the replay booth didn’t chime in, forcing WSU’s interim coach Pete Kaligis to drop his challenge flag. Unlike Dickert’s many challenges, Kaligis’ was successful, though it only gained the Cougars 5 yards. It didn’t stop Syracuse from scoring a late touchdown, giving it a 35-21 lead in the highest-scoring Holiday Bowl first half.