Kyle McCord threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns as No. 21 Syracuse authored an offensive masterpiece in a 52-35 win over Washington State in the Holiday Bowl on Friday in San Diego.
As part of his stellar performance, McCord set the Atlantic Coast Conference single-season record for passing yards (4,779) in his first year at Syracuse. The old mark of 4,593 was set by Clemson’s Deshaun Watson in 2016.
On Friday, McCord threw two touchdown passes apiece to Trebor Pena and Oronde Gadsden II.
LeQuint Allen also caught a TD pass to go along with 120 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground for the Orange (10-3), who finished with 606 yards of offense.
“Kyle McCord is that guy,” said Allen. He’s legit. He’s everything you need for the program. I can’t wait to see him on Sundays balling out.”
Zevi Eckhaus passed for 363 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions while adding a rushing score for Washington State (8-5).
Kyle Williams had 172 receiving yards and a score on 10 catches to pace the Cougars, who fought valiantly after a tumultuous month in which coach Jake Dickert bolted for Wake Forest and more than 30 players entered the transfer portal, including Oklahoma-bound starting quarterback John Mateer.
The Cougars trailed 35-21 at halftime before slicing their deficit in half on Eckhaus’ 42-yard TD pass to Carlos Hernandez. However, the Orange scored the next 17 points to win comfortably.
Late in the third quarter, McCord connected with Pena, who took a short pass and ran down the left sideline for a 45-yard score to make it 42-28. Allen increased the margin to 52-28 late in the fourth with a 33-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Eckhaus gave Washington State an early 7-0 lead with a 4-yard TD scramble, but the Orange answered with touchdowns on their next two possessions. First, McCord hit Pena for a 19-yard TD on a back-shoulder throw, and then Allen found some room en route to a 12-yard scoring run.
Syracuse’s momentum didn’t last long, however. On the Cougars’ third play of the ensuing drive, Williams took a slant pass and split the defense for a 66-yard touchdown. Shortly thereafter, Leon Neal Jr. blocked a Syracuse punt and Josh Meredith recovered for a 12-yard score, putting Washington State ahead 21-14 after one quarter.
“There were a lot of questions asked about what team would show up,” said Washington State interim coach Pete Kaligis. “…I’ll take (all the blame for the loss), because they fought. They fought, and I’m so proud of them. I’m so proud of them.”
The second quarter was action-packed as well — at least for the Syracuse offense. The Orange outscored the Cougars 21-0 in the period, highlighted by two touchdown passes from McCord to Gadsden.
In all, Syracuse racked up 364 yards in the first half en route to a 14-point lead at the break.
–Field Level Media
