Syracuse wins high-scoring Holiday Bowl, McCord sets ACC passing record

SAN DIEGO -- No. 22 Syracuse ended their season under first-year head coach Fran Brown with a 52-35 shootout victory over Washington State in the Holiday Bowl at Snapdragon Stadium on Friday night to finish with a 10-3 record, their best since 2018.

Quarterback Kyle McCord led the way for the Orange (10-3, 5-3 ACC), throwing for 453 yards and five touchdowns and being awarded the Holiday Bowl offensive MVP. McCord, an Ohio State transfer, broke the single-season ACC passing record with the bowl performance to finish with 4,779 yards for the season. 

“God put me in a great situation around a lot of great people. I was given that environment that’s really allowed me to succeed,” McCord said.

Defensive back Alijah “Cinco” Clark led the way defensively for the Orange, winning defensive MVP. Clark was everywhere, finishing with six tackles and an interception. 

Quarterback Zevi Eckhaus and Washington State (8-5) didn’t make things easy for Syracuse. Despite the transfers, coaching changes and drama that went on the last few weeks the Cougars came out fighting. 

Eckhaus got his first start this year after quarterback John Mateer’s departure and looked comfortable. After connecting on a slot fade to wide receiver Kyle Williams for a 31-yard gain, Eckhaus punched it in on a quarterback lead to give Wazzu an early 7-0 lead.

After miscues on the previous drive, McCord and the Syracuse offense woke up. McCord connected on a back shoulder fade to wide receiver Darrell Gill Jr. for a 29-yard completion. Two plays later McCord connected on another back shoulder fade against press man coverage, this time to wide receiver Trebor Pena for a 19-yard touchdown.

“That’s something that we work a ton on in practice. You get so many reps of that, I know exactly what he was thinking,” McCord said. “Anytime you get press man I want him to take that matchup and give him a chance to go up and get it.”

McCord and his receivers took advantage of Washington State’s struggles in coverage, winning outside leverage all game against cover one and cover zero. With 2:57 left in the first, McCord hit wide receiver Jackson Meeks on back-to-back back shoulder fades for 18 and 19-yard gains. It set up an inside run by running back LeQuint Allen Jr. for a 12-yard touchdown and put the Orange up 14-7. 

Allen was lethal in both the running and passing game, finishing with 120 yards rushing, 45 yards receiving and three total touchdowns. 

The Cougars responded instantly, as Eckhaus hit Williams on an angle route out of motion for a 66-yard touchdown to tie the game 14-14. Williams had an all-time performance, catching 10 receptions for 172 yards and a touchdown and breaking Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant's Holiday Bowl receiving record. 

“I thought (Williams) was one of the better receivers we went against the entire year,” said Brown. “He definitely was a problem.”

Wazzu retook the lead and momentum after a blocked punt for a touchdown with 17 seconds left in the first quarter. 

After being down again 21-14 the Syracuse offense found a rhythm and put together a great drive in response. Tight end Oronde Gadsden II got involved, winning a slant against one-on-one coverage for a 22-yard reception. McCord went right back to him against man, with Gadsden winning on a post route for an easy 18-yard touchdown to tie the game at 21. 

From that point on it was all Orange. Eckhaus underthrew a post against cover three for an interception leading to another long Syracuse drive capped off by an Allen Jr. touchdown to retake the lead 28-21.

The Orange got the ball back once again with 2:55 left in the second quarter and drove at will. McCord and his offense had an answer to everything, beating man and Tampa two coverages while controlling the line of scrimmage. A shift to play action and then to a clear-out route led to another Gadsden touchdown to extend the lead to 35-21 right before halftime. 

The Cougars clawed back after Eckhaus scrambled and found wide receiver Carlos Hernandez across the middle for a 42-yard touchdown to cut the lead 35-28 with 2:06 left in the third. 

Three plays later an outside block set up a wide receiver screen perfectly for Syracuse, as Pena ran a screen 45 yards untouched into the endzone to extend the lead 42-28. Pena finished his day with 112 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.

Another interception, a field goal and a late touchdown from Allen Jr. put the nail in the coffin for the Cougars. A garbage time touchdown ended the game with a final score of 52-35. 

The Orange receiving core was a problem for the Wazzu secondary. Meeks finished with 110 yards on five catches and Gill Jr. caught four receptions for 145 yards. Gadsden finished with 74 receiving yards and two touchdowns. 

Syracuse earned their second bowl win since 2018 and topped the 10-win mark for the eighth time in program history. Brown’s first year ends on a four-game win streak and a Holiday Bowl victory. 

“We set a standard. The 10 wins show that we are becoming a successful program and we have to continue to work”, said Brown. “We want to go above and beyond.”