Washington State University Athletics
Washington State University
8-5 , 0-1
Syracuse
10-3 , 5-3
Washington State Battles No. 21 Syracuse in 2024 DirecTV Holiday Bowl
December 27, 2024 | Football
SAN DIEGO (AP) Kyle McCord threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns to break Deshaun Watson's Atlantic Coast Conference season passing record and lead No. 22 Syracuse to a 52-35 victory over depleted-yet-scrappy Washington State in the Holiday Bowl on Friday night.
LeQuint Allen rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns for his second straight 1,000-yard season for the Orange (10-3), who had their first 10-win season since 2018. Fran Brown joined Paul Pasqualoni (1991) as the only Orange coaches since World War II to win 10 game in their first season.
McCord, the national passing leader, came in with 4,326 yards, which was fifth on the ACC's season list, and needed 268 yards to break Watson's record of 4,593, which he set in 15 games in 2016 at Clemson. McCord broke the record by a yard on the Orange's first play of the second half on a 50-yard pass to Darrell Gill Jr., who made a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch. McCord finished with 4,779 yards.
McCord was 24 of 34. Gill had 145 yards on four catches and Jackson Meeks had five catches for 110 yards. Trebor Pena and Oronde Gadsden each had two touchdown catches.
The Cougars (8-5) lost their fourth straight game but were spirited despite losing coach Jake Dickert to Wake Forest, quarterback John Mateer to Oklahoma, both coordinators and the quarterbacks and running backs coach, as well as having more than 20 players enter the transfer portal.
Zevi Eckhaus, who threw only seven passes in the regular season as Mateer's backup, threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. Kyle Williams had 10 catches for 172 yards to break Dez Bryant's Holiday Bowl record of 168 yards receiving in 2008.
Team Stats
SYR 0, WSU 7
WSU - Eckhaus,Zevi 4 yd run (Janikowski,Dean kick), 8 plays, 68 yards, TOP 03:57
SYR 6, WSU 7
SYR - Pena,Trebor 19 yd pass from McCord,Kyle () 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:44
SYR 14, WSU 7
SYR - Allen,LeQuint 12 yd run (Allen,LeQuint pass), 4 plays, 51 yards, TOP 01:22
SYR 14, WSU 14
WSU - Williams,Kyle 66 yd pass from Eckhaus,Zevi (Janikowski,Dean kick) 3 plays, 73 yards, TOP 01:03
SYR 14, WSU 21
WSU - Meredith,Josh 12 yd punt return (Janikowski,Dean kick)
SYR 21, WSU 21
SYR - Gadsden II,Oronde 18 yd pass from McCord,Kyle (Kennedy,Jackson kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:24
SYR 28, WSU 21
SYR - Allen,LeQuint 2 yd run (Kennedy,Jackson kick), 8 plays, 94 yards, TOP 02:49
SYR 35, WSU 21
SYR - Gadsden II,Oronde 5 yd pass from McCord,Kyle (Kennedy,Jackson kick) 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 02:55
SYR 35, WSU 28
WSU - Hernandez,Carlos 42 yd pass from Eckhaus,Zevi (Janikowski,Dean kick) 10 plays, 79 yards, TOP 05:02
SYR 42, WSU 28
SYR - Pena,Trebor 45 yd pass from McCord,Kyle (Kennedy,Jackson kick) 2 plays, 49 yards, TOP 00:39
SYR 45, WSU 28
SYR - Kennedy,Jackson 30 yd field goal 9 plays, 54 yards, TOP 04:56
SYR 52, WSU 28
SYR - Allen,LeQuint 33 yd pass from McCord,Kyle (Kennedy,Jackson kick) 3 plays, 80 yards, TOP 01:39
SYR 52, WSU 35
WSU - Ganashamoorthy,Branden 9 yd pass from Eckhaus,Zevi (Janikowski,Dean kick) 11 plays, 67 yards, TOP 03:06
