The wait was over...
Almost a month since the end of the regular season, the Syracuse Orange (9-3) and Washington State Cougars (8-4) were back on the field for the DIRECTV Holiday Bowl.
This served as Washington State's fifth trip to the Holiday Bowl, coming in with a record of 1-3, while Syracuse was playing in this specific bowl for the first time ever.
The Orange would end the opening drive of the game by punting the ball away to the Cougars after miscues on offense with timing of the ball and not getting hands on the ball as well.
Washington State would do the opposite, moving down the field to score on their first possession of the game on a keeper by senior quarterback Zevi Eckhaus for a four-yard touchdown that gave the Cougars the first lead of the night, 7-0, with 9:47 left in the first quarter. This score was aided by a 31-yard pass two plays prior from Eckhaus to senior wide receiver Kyle Williams that moved Washington State from the Syracuse 36 to the Syracuse five-yard line.
The Orange would respond with a scoring drive of their own that began with junior running back LeQuint Allen, Jr., taking three-straight carries a total of 23 yards. Then, senior quarterback Kyle McCord threw three-straight completions, the first to sophomore wide receiver Darrell Gill, Jr., for 29 yards, the second to true freshman running back Yasin Willis for four yards, and the third to junior wide receiver Trebor Pena for a 19-yard touchdown.
Syracuse would elect to have redshirt-junior kicker Jackson Kennedy run the ball for some two-point conversion trickery. After review, the officiating crew decided Kennedy did not get into the end zone, leaving the Orange behind by one, 7-6, at the 7:03 mark of the opening quarter.
After five plays, Washington would end their second drive of the night with their first punt.
Starting at their own 49, the Orange would take just four plays to get back into the end zone, a two-yard rush by Allen, followed by back-to-back completions from McCord to senior wide receiver Jackson Meeks for 18 and then 19 yards, and the score coming on a 12-yard run by Allen, bringing the Orange their first lead of the game after a two-point pass attempt from McCord to Allen made it 14-7 with 2:32 left in the first quarter.
Eckhaus would find Kyle Williams for a three-yard pass to start the Cougars' third drive of the contest, followed by a four-yard keeper by Eckhaus and back to Williams, this time for a 66-yard pass-play where Williams caught the ball, got to the left sideline, and turned on the engines to outrun the entire Orange defense, making it 14-apiece one minute and 10 seconds after the Orange score, at the 1:22 mark.
Syracuse would almost have the ball intercepted on their fourth drive.
They would attempt to punt the ball away with under a minute to go in the quarter, but a problem they have had all season reared its ugly head, when redshirt-junior punter Jack Stonehouse's punt try was blocked.
Redshirt-junior wide receiver Leon Neal, Jr., was the one responsible for blocking the punt attempt and fellow redshirt-junior wide receiver Josh Meredith would pick the ball up off the ground and return it 12 yards for a special-teams touchdown to give Washington State the lead, 21-14, right before the end of the first quarter.
The Orange would run one play, a seven-yard carry by Allen, before the end of the opening quarter, and take their fifth drive into the top of the second. Allen would carry the ball for nine and then three yards, followed by McCord to redshirt-junior tight end Oronde Gadsden II for a 23-yard gain.
A 15-yard carry by Pena moved Syracuse inside the Washington State redzone, placing them on the 18-yard line.
After an incomplete pass, McCord would find Gadsden for the second time of this drive, and second time in the game, this over the middle for an 18-yard touchdown, tying the contest at 21 at the 12:53 mark of the second quarter.
Senior defensive back Alijah Clark would wait in the open field for a ball coming to him from Eckhaus, leaping up and grabbing it out of the air for an interception.
There was a flag on this play.
However, it was offensive pass interference, which the Orange declined, and the interception stood, stopping the Cougars' fourth drive of the game, which the Cougars had taken to the 47-yard line of the Orange. Clark's interception started Syracuse's sixth drive from their own four-yard line.
The Orange would capitalize off of the Cougars' turnover when Allen took a pitch from McCord in for a two-yard rushing touchdown, rolling the Orange ahead at 28-21 at the 7:34 mark of the second quarter. At this time, Allen had 88 yards on 11 carries (eight yards per carry) and two rushing touchdowns in the first half.
On the first play of the next drive, senior linebacker Marlowe Wax, Jr., would intercept Eckhaus but the takeaway would get taken away due to an illegal-use-of-the-hands penalty on Syracuse.
A nine-play drive that saw Washington State inside the Syracuse redzone, at the 19-yard line, would end Eckhaus lost a yard on a 4th-&-1 try courtesy of Clark and redshirt-junior linebacker Anwar Sparrow, turning the ball over to Syracuse at the Orange 20.
On their seventh drive of the night, Syracuse would gain back-to-back first downs on two incomplete passes.
How you ask?
Thanks to consecutive penalties on Washington State, the first was pass interference which moved Syracuse from the Washington State 45-yard line to the 30 and the second a hands-to-the-face penalty that rolled the Orange to the Cougars' 15 from the 30-yard line.
McCord would follow with a pass to Allen that advanced Syracuse 10 yards to the Washington State five-yard line, and then on the very next play, McCord got the remaining five yards when he found Gadsden open for Gadsden's second touchdown of the contest.
The Orange went into the half ahead 35-21.
Syracuse had seven drives in the first half and they went as follows: punt, touchdown, touchdown, punt, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.
Washington State had five drives before halftime, concluding in this order: touchdown, punt, touchdown, interception thrown, turnover on downs, and the end of the first half.
McCord went 15-for-23 for 218 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions in the first half.
Gadsden led all Orange receivers with 74 yards, achieving that on four catches, two of those for touchdowns.
Allen gained over 100 yards rushing in the first half for Syracuse, with 101 on 13 carries, two of those carries going for scores.
Redshirt-junior defensive back Duce Chestnut ended the first half with four solo tackles. Clark and junior defensive lineman Denis Jaquez, Jr., also had four total tackles, but three were solo for each.
Eckhaus went 13-for-15 for 176 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the opening half for Washington State.
Kyle Williams led all receivers on both sides in the game, with 125 yards in the first half, coming on five catches, with one going for a touchdown.
Eckhaus was the leader on the ground in the first half for the Cougars, with 24 yards on six carries, including one touchdown. Redshirt-freshman running back Leo Pulalasi followed with 21 yards on seven carries.
Senior edge rusher Syrus Webster, redshirt-senior defensive back Tyson Durant, and senior defensive back Tanner Moku each had five total tackles for Washington State in the first half.
On the first drive of the second half, Cougars' redshirt-senior kicker Dean Janikowski would attempt a 41-yard field goal which would fall outside of the left goal-post, no good, keeping the score at 35-21 Orange and giving the ball to the Orange at their own 24-yard line at the 10:26 mark of the third quarter.
The very first play of the second half for Syracuse would be a 50-yard pass-play from McCord to Gill, getting Syracuse from their own 24 to the Washington State 26-yard line.
This completion also gave McCord the most passing yards in a single season for any quarterback in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), passing Clemson Tigers' quarterback alum Deshaun Watson's 4,593, with 4,594.
The opening Orange possession of the second half, however, would also end like the Cougars did, with a missed field goal, this from Kennedy from 39 yards out, giving the Cougars the ball on their own 21 with 7:08 remaining in the third quarter.
Washington State would capitalize on this missed field goal, taking an 11-play drive into the end zone with a 42-yard catch-and-run pass play from Eckhaus to sophomore wide receiver Carlos Hernandez, bringing the score to 35-28 Syracuse at the 2:06 mark.
It took the Orange just two plays to respond, a four-yard run by Allen by a 45-yard catch-and-run of its own from McCord to Pena, making it 42-28 Orange with 1:19 on the third-quarter clock; this served as Pena's second touchdown of the night.
After the Cougars took their drive from the end of the third and into the fourth quarter and converted on a 4th-&-1 keeper by Eckhaus for a first down, redshirt-sophomore defensive back Jalil Martin thwarted any plans by the Cougars by intercepting Eckhaus to give the Orange the ball back on their own 28.
Three plays into their next drive, McCord found Gill for another huge gain, this a 49-yard pass play on a 3rd-&-21 attempt, with McCord getting the ball to Gill right before the defender got there and Gill holding on despite the high-speed hit.
After a 14-yard loss on a sack by senior edge-rusher Quinn Roff moved Syracuse from the Washington State four-yard line back to the 18, Kennedy would come in for a 30-yard try on 4th-&-18. This time, the ball went into the net, extending the Orange out to a 45-28 lead with 9:19 to play.
On the Cougars' next drive, Eckhaus' 10-yard keeper to the Orange four-yard line was erased due to a holding penalty.
Three plays later, Dean Janikowski would attempt a field goal from 37 yards out, and this, like the prior, would fall outside of the goal-posts, giving Syracuse the ball at their own 20 with 5:02 left.
Meeks made many moves on a 41-yard pass play on the next drive by the Orange, and Allen followed with his third score of the game, this on a 33-yard catch-and-run that advanced the Orange ahead to a 52-28 lead with 3:23 to go in the game. This score was Allen's first receiving touchdown of the night.
Washington State freshman wide receiver Branden Ganar made his only catch of the night count, with a nine-yard touchdown to provide the final score at Snapdragon Stadium in this the 45th Holiday Bowl, a 52-35 victory for Syracuse.
This win gives Fran Brown a double-digit winning season in his first as the head coach of the Orange, and first overall as a collegiate head coach.
Syracuse now has 10 victories for the second time since 2018, also a 10-3 season.
With this victory, the Orange also went undefeated on the west coast this season, with wins against the UNLV Rebels, California Golden Bears, and now Washington State Cougars here in San Diego, California.
What a start it truly is to D.A.R.T. (detailed, Accountable, Relentless, & Tough).
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