Syracuse defeats Washington State in a Holiday Bowl shootout

The Syracuse Orange football team, making their third west coast trip of the 2024 season, defeated the Washington State Cougars on Friday Night December 27, 52-35, in the Holiday Bowl at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. Syracuse went 3-0 on their three west coast trips, also defeating UNLV and California.

The shootout in San Diego resulted in a combined total of 87 points and 1,078 yards of total offense. The game became a battle between quarterbacks, with Kyle McCord of Syracuse throwing for 453 yards and five touchdowns, while former Culver City High School quarterback star Zevi Eckhaus led the way for the Cougars, throwing for 363 yards and three touchdowns, adding 28 yards rushing and a four-yard touchdown run.

Former St. Monica high school star Kyle Williams caught 10 passes from Eckhaus for 172 yards, breaking the record set by wide receiver Dez Bryant of 168 yards set in 2008, when he was with Oklahoma State. Bryant became an NFL All-pro wide receiver with the Dallas Cowboys. Williams was asked about the record at the Washington State press conference.

"Honestly, it's amazing," Williams said. "Every game I come and try to put on a show and do the most that I can, but to be the receiver that's all time and great like that is just an honor, and it shows all the work that I put in, it wasn't for nothing. I'm grateful I could do that, but I wouldn't have got it without this gunslinger (referring to Eckhaus)."

Eckhaus responded: "He's giving me so much credit. Yeah, I touched upon it earlier this week. For anybody that's watching, scouts, whoever, GMs, this kid's character is insane and his work ethic. He shows up every single day. He doesn't care about the accolades, the awards. I'm sure he appreciates them, but that doesn't define him. Whether he was hurting, whether he was sick, whatever the case may be, he showed up."

For Eckhaus, this was his first start at Washington State. Eckhaus spent his first three seasons of college football at Bryant University in Rhode Island, setting multiple passing records, including records for most passing touchdowns with 75, and becoming the all-time leader in total offense with 9,287 and completions with 724. Eckhaus was the Big South Conference Player of the Year in 2023.

Eckhaus got the Cougars off to a quick start, with a four-yard touchdown run and a 66-yard touchdown toss to Williams in the first quarter. Those two scores along with a return of a blocked punt for a touchdown gave the Cougars an early 21-14 lead after the first quarter. But McCord proved to be too much for the leaky Cougars pass defense.

McCord extended his school single season records to 4,779 yards passing, 34 touchdown passes, 391 completions and 558 attempts. McCord was the starting quarterback at Ohio State in 2023 and a five-star recruit in the 247 football recruiting rankings in the Class of 2021. He transferred to Syracuse for his senior season and led them to their first ten-win season since 2018 and just their third since 2000.

McCord is appealing to the NCAA to get a 5th year of college football, and he has not really decided if he was going to take it if he gets it or go straight to the NFL. "Yeah, I think both are great options, but to be honest, I really haven't been thinking about that too much," McCord said. "I've kind of been focused on the ballgame. Now that we've got some time off, and if I do get that extra year, we'll see. It would be definitely a tough decision to make either way."

It will be tough for first-year head coach Fran Brown to lose McCord. "He kept showing that he was tough, that he was relentless," Brown said of McCord. "He exemplified the art. Everything that I would tell him; he pushed to the team and we just kind of worked together. This is my guy. I love this guy."

McCord was named the Offensive MVP of the Holiday Bowl and corner-back Alijah Clark was named the Defensive MVP with six tackles and an interception. The attendance at the Holiday Bowl was 23,920 in the 35,000-seat stadium. Snapdragon Stadium, which opened in 2023, is the home field of the San Diego State Aztecs of the Mountain West Conference and a nice stadium to watch a college football game.

The Cougars went through a lot this season and it did not end with the regular season. More than twenty players have transferred. Head coach Jake Dickert left for the head coaching job at Wake Forest, his offensive coordinator and quarterback coach left for the same jobs at Oklahoma. The Cougars starting quarterback also left for Oklahoma, opening up the starting job for Eckhaus.

For Wiliams, he has run out of college eligibility and is headed for the NFL. For Eckhaus, at the post-game press conference he indicated he was undecided about his next move. The Cougars interim head coach for the game, Pete Kaligis, was not under consideration for the head coaching job.

The day after the Holiday Bowl, Washington State hired Jimmy Rogers from South Dakota State as their new head coach. Rogers led the South Dakota State Jackrabbits to the FCS national championship in 2023. Eckhaus entered the transfer portal two days after the Holiday Bowl and then withdrew from the transfer portal two days later, an indication that he will be the starting QB at Washington State next season. He seemed to earn that opportunity in the Holiday Bowl.