Shorthanded Cougars impress in Holiday Bowl loss to No. 21 Syracuse

Making his first start in over a year and first in the crimson and gray, Washington State quarterback Zevi Eckhaus led the Cougs to an eight-play, 68-yard scoring drive on the first possession of the DirecTV Holiday Bowl on Friday.

Eckhaus and senior Kyle Williams shined for the Cougs, but it was the No. 21 Syracuse Orange who would come away with the 52-35 bowl victory at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego in a game that featured a plethora of broken records.

On that first drive, Eckhaus connected with Williams twice, including a deep 38-yard completion up the right sideline which set up Eckhaus, who watched former WSU QB John Mateer cash in on 15 rushing touchdowns through 12 games under center, to dash 4 yards for his own rushing score.

WSU led 7-0 in the first quarter and the collective stress of losing a head coach, an offensive coordinator, a starting quarterback and over 30 players to the transfer portal seemed to evaporate with the ear-to-ear grin of acting head coach Pete Kaligis and the elated energy and steady leadership of Eckhaus, Williams and the 96 other Cougs who made the trip to San Diego.

With 30 teammates in the transfer portal and coach Jake Dickert having left the team nine days earlier for Wake Forest, Eckhaus passed for 363 yards and Williams made 10 catches for a Holiday Bowl-record 172 yards, but the Cougars couldn’t keep pace with record-setting QB Kyle McCord and the Syracuse Orange.

Kyle Williams thrills

While Mateer led the nation in total touchdowns with 44, Williams was an X-factor for WSU his last two seasons in Pullman and kept the Cougar offense grooving Friday in San Diego.

Williams’ bowl-record yardage included a 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown.

Eckhaus said in his postgame news conference that the kind of game that Williams had does not just happen.

“This kid’s character is insane,” Ekhaus said of Williams. “I’m so grateful to have a man like that (playing) with me.”

Williams will undergo the NFL draft preparation process over the next four months. His college resume includes three seasons at UNLV and two at WSU for 3,608 yards and 29 touchdowns.

The fifth-year senior from Inglewood, Calif., finished the 2024 regular season with 1,026 yards — the first 1,000-yard season of his career — and made a catch in each of his last 50 games.

Cougars play with heart

Williams’ effort was the most glowing in a team full of heart. WSU had every reason to not play in the game after its head coach moved on, many assistant coaches became fully engaged in new jobs and over 30 players went into the transfer portal.

But the Cougs did not pull out of the bowl game, securing their share of the $5.9 million payout and giving FOX viewers a thrilling Friday night football game.

The Cougars and Orange combined for over 1,000 yards and 87 points.

After the WSU defense forced Syracuse off the field on its opening possession, Eckhaus led the Cougs to the end zone, using a 38-yard throw to Williams to set up his 4-yard touchdown jaunt.

McCord and the Orange wasted little time responding.

Syracuse running back LeQuint Allen gained 23 yards on three carries to open the Orange’s second possession and McCord took care of the rest, completing three straight passes including a 19-yard touchdown to Trebor Pena.

McCord dove for a 2-point conversion, but stepped out of bounds before crossing the plane. WSU still led 7-6.

Syracuse took its first lead of the game on its next possession when Allen capped a four-play 1:22 scoring drive with a 12-yard run and 2-point conversion.

Williams evened things up with his 66-yard touchdown and Leon Neal Jr. transformed Snapdragon Stadium into Gesa Field with an electrifying blocked punt that was picked up and returned for a touchdown by San Diego native Josh Meredith.

WSU led Syracuse 21-14 after 15 minutes, but the Orange outpaced the Cougs 21-0 in the second quarter to lead 35-21 at halftime.

After seeing his pass bounce off Carlos Hernandez’s hands in the third quarter, Eckhaus sent another pass Hernandez’s way and saw his wideout travel 44 yards to the end zone to make it a one-score game.

Syracuse’s final two touchdown drives came on two and three-play demonstrations, respectively, as McCord continued to carve up a depleted WSU defense on his way to the most passing yards in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

Eckhaus’ best attempt at a WSU comeback was stonewalled in the fourth quarter when he tried to force a ball Williams’ way and threw an interception with 14:15 left in the game and the Cougs trailing by 14.

The Cougars’ senior QB from Culver City, Calif., wore In-N-Out socks and completed 31-of-43 passes for 363 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for a touchdown and racked up 28 yards on the ground.

Kyle McCord makes history

McCord completed 24-of-34 passes for 453 passing yards and five touchdowns as he surpassed former Clemson QB Deshaun Watson (2016) for the all-time single-season Atlantic Coast Conference passing record.

McCord led all passers in the nation with 4,779 yards in 2024.

The WSU defense played the game without several key starters, including each of its top three defensive tackles. Ansel Din-Mbuh transferred to TCU and Khalil Laufau went from the Cougs to the Coogs of Houston. David Gusta entered the portal shortly after Dickert left and Kaligis said he would not play in the Holiday Bowl because of an ankle injury.

With a thin defensive tackle corps, Bryson Lamb was the Cougars’ heaviest DT and senior Andrew Edson, playing the bowl game with his hand bandaged in a club, moved inside from edge.

WSU safeties Jackson Lataimua and Adrian Wilson and cornerback Ethan O’Connor each entered the transfer portal. Linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah transferred to WSU’s cross-state rival Washington.

However, the Cougar football players voted to allow players in the transfer portal to still play in the bowl game. Cornerback Steve Hall and Meredith played in the game while also being in the portal.

What’s next for WSU

WSU ended its first football season since the implosion of the Pac-12 Conference with eight wins and five losses.

The winter transfer portal closes for most players today but remains open for any school that lost its head coach for the 30 days immediately following the coach’s departure.

This leaves the 30 Cougs in the transfer portal time to either find a new school or return to Pullman.

WSU continues to search for a new head football coach.

While senior linebacker Kyle Thornton has played his final down for WSU, he shared his positive outlook for the future of Cougar football.

“I know it’s pretty easy to keep track of the ones who don’t want to be a part of the team, but the Cougs who wanna be Cougs, they’re a little harder to track, but they’re in there,” Thornton said.“I know it’s a little doom and gloom for the Cougs right now, but there’s sunny days coming. There is sunny times coming, I do believe that, and the future Cougs are gonna go find it.”

Syracuse 14 21 7 10—52

Washington State 21 0 7 7—35

First Quarter

WSU — Eckhaus 4 run (D.Janikowski kick), 9:47.

SYR — Pena 19 pass from McCord (run failed), 7:03.

SYR — Allen 12 run (Allen pass from McCord), 2:32.

WSU — Ky.Williams 66 pass from Eckhaus (D.Janikowski kick), 1:22.

WSU — Meredith 12 punt return (D.Janikowski kick), :17.

Second Quarter

SYR — Gadsden 18 pass from McCord (Kennedy kick), 12:53.

SYR — Allen 2 run (Kennedy kick), 7:34.

SYR — Gadsden 5 pass from McCord (Kennedy kick), :13.

Third Quarter

WSU — Hernandez 42 pass from Eckhaus (D.Janikowski kick), 2:06.

SYR — Pena 45 pass from McCord (Kennedy kick), 1:19.

Fourth Quarter

SYR — FG Kennedy 30, 9:19.

SYR — Allen 33 pass from McCord (Kennedy kick), 3:23.

WSU — Ganashamoorthy 9 pass from Eckhaus (D.Janikowski kick), :09.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Syracuse, Allen 17-120, Pena 3-38, Willis 1-3, (Team) 1-(minus 1), McCord 4-(minus 7). Washington St., Pulalasi 14-61, Eckhaus 11-28, Joyner 2-10, Freeman 1-7, Schlenbaker 2-4, Barnes 1-(minus 1).

PASSING — Syracuse, McCord 24-34-0-453. Washington St., Eckhaus 31-43-2-363.

RECEIVING — Syracuse, Meeks 5-110, Pena 5-70, Gill 4-145, Gadsden 4-74, Allen 3-45, Willis 2-4, Mang 1-5. Washington St., Ky.Williams 10-172, Hernandez 8-80, Meredith 5-30, Leckner 2-31, Schlenbaker 2-16, Pulalasi 2-5, Barnes 1-20, Ganashamoorthy 1-9.

MISSED FIELD GOALS — Syracuse, Kennedy 39. Washington St., D.Janikowski 41, D.Janikowski 37.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.