Despite best efforts, undermanned WSU falls to Syracuse in Holiday Bowl 52-35

A proud fight from the Cougs.

The scoreboard doesn’t accurately paint the picture of how well-fought the 2024 Holiday Bowl was. While the Syracuse Orange won comfortably 52-35 over the Washington State Cougars, the game was a war until about the last 10 minutes of gametime.

It’s no secret WSU (8-5) came into this game severely undermanned with 28 players in the transfer portal and without their head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator. Yet, despite all the adversity they faced, they still led 21-14 at the end of the first quarter but ultimately ran out of steam over the last three quarters. Syracuse (10-3) managed to put up 606 yards of total offense against a WSU defense that didn’t have any of their defensive tackles.

The Cougars came out energized, forcing an Orange punt on the game’s opening possession. Zevi Eckhaus—making his first WSU start—led the Cougars 68 yards down the field on eight plays, punctuating the drive with a QB keeper to give WSU an early 7-0 lead.

The Orange quickly responded, needing only six plays to go all 75 yards for their first of seven touchdowns on the day. Syracuse failed to convert on a two-point conversion to keep WSU in front 7-6. After a WSU punt, the Orange got right back to work, this time heavily targeting WSU’s Stephen Hall on back-to-back completions to put the Orange right back in the red zone. LeQuint Allen put the Orange on top with a 12-yard dash up the middle on Syrcuse’s fourth play of the drive.

Facing the possibility of giving the ball right back to Syracuse on a 3rd and 3, the Cougars turned to their star playmaker Kyle Williams on a slant route, and he did the rest. Williams flew right past all the defenders in orange and white, going 66 yards to tie the game at 14 apiece.

Williams went on to set a Holiday Bowl record with 172 receiving yards on 10 catches. He could have easily chosen to sit this bowl game out to try and stay healthy ahead of possibly pursuing an NFL career. Instead, he chose to don the crimson and gray one more time and put on a show.

WSU’s momentum reached it’s peak after the defense forced an Orange three-and-out. On the ensuing punt, Leon Neal Jr. got a lane to the punter and blocked it. Josh Meredith picked up the loose ball and ran it in to give WSU a stunning 21-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Unfortunately for the Cougs, the good times would stay in the first quarter. The Orange dominated the second quarter, scoring 21 unanswered and picking off Eckhaus once to head into halftime up 35-21. As the game rolled into the second half, WSU continued to battle and keep the Orange from putting this game completely out of reach in the. With a little over two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Eckhaus brought the Cougs back within a touchdown with a highlight reel play.

Eckhaus looked impressive in his first Cougar start, finishing with 363 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. He flashed his arm talent with some fantastic layered throws over coverages throughout the game but did have a few miscues, throwing two interceptions. His last one led to a Syracuse touchdown two plays later to put the Orange up 21 entering the fourth quarter. The Orange tacked on a field goal and a touchdown to seal it on their next two drives to go up 52-28. WSU closed things out with a touchdown pass to Branden Ganashamoorthy with eight seconds left that may not have changed the result of the game but surely effected some people out there as WSU cut the deficit from 24 to 17.

While it isn’t the result interim coach Pete Kaligis and the guys in crimson hoped for, they have to be proud of the fight they showed in this game. There was conversation on if WSU should even play this game with the amount of guys hitting the portal, especially after the departure of their head coach. Yet, they still went down to San Diego and delivered an exciting and competitive game. Sure, they ended up losing by three possessions, but WSU never felt out of it until the final minutes. Eckhaus showed signs of promise with some fantastic throws that can give Coug fans something to feel good about heading into next season.

Until then, WSU will once again face the great unknown this offseason that starts with the hiring of their new head coach.