Postseason college football bowl game
College football game
The 2024 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2024, at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego , California.[ 3] Holiday Bowl game featured the Syracuse Orange from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Washington State Cougars from the Pac-12 Conference . The game began at approximately 5:00 p.m. PST and aired on Fox .[ 3] 2024–25 bowl games concluding the 2024 FBS football season . This was the first edition of the bowl contested at Snapdragon Stadium.[ 3] DirecTV , the game was officially known as the DirecTV Holiday Bowl .
Teams
The bowl featured the Syracuse Orange of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-12 Conference . This was the second meeting between these teams; the first came in 1979, when the Orange defeated the Cougars, 52–25.[ 4]
Washington State Cougars
Washington State recorded a 8–4 record during the regular season (0–1 in the Pac-12), finishing second of the two teams that competed in the conference during 2024. The Cougars had an 8–1 record at one point and were briefly ranked 18th in the nation, before losing their final three regular-season games. The Cougars were led by interim head coach Pete Kaligis , who took over in mid-December when Jake Dickert departed for another coaching role.[ 5] 2003 and losing in 1981 , 2016 , and 2017 .
Syracuse Orange
Syracuse played to a 9–3 record (5–3 in the ACC) during the regular season, tied for fourth place in their conference and ranked 21st in the final College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings. The Orange ended their regular season with three consecutive wins. This was Syracuse's first appearance in the Holiday Bowl.
Game summary
2024 DirecTV Holiday Bowl
Quarter
Total
No. 21 Syracuse
14
21
7 10 52
Washington State
21
0
7 7 35
at Snapdragon Stadium • San Diego, California
Date : Friday, December 27, 2024Game time : 5:06 p.m. PST Game weather : Cloudy • Temperature : 59 °F (15 °C) • Wind : 3 mph (4.8 km/h) southwestGame attendance : 23,920Referee : Jerry McGinnTV announcers (Fox ) : Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst), and Jenny Taft (sideline)Box score
Game information
First quarter (9:47) WSU – Zevi Eckhaus 4-yard run, Dean Janikowski kick (Drive: 8 plays, 68 yards, 3:57; Washington State 7–0 )
(7:03) SYR – Trebor Pena 19-yard pass from Kyle McCord , 2-point run conversion failed (Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 2:44; Washington State 7–6 )
(2:32) SYR – LeQuint Allen 12-yard run, Kyle McCord pass to LeQuint Allen for 2-point conversion (Drive: 4 plays, 51 yards, 1:22; Syracuse 14–7 )
(1:22) WSU – Kyle Williams 66-yard pass from Zevi Eckhaus, Dean Janikowski kick (Drive: 3 plays, 73 yards, 1:03; Tied 14–14 )
(0:17) WSU – Josh Meredith 12-yard punt return, Dean Janikowski kick (Drive: 3 plays, 2 yards, 1:05; Washington State 21–14 ) Second quarter (12:53) SYR – Oronde Gadsden II 18-yard pass from Kyle McCord, Jackson Kennedy kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:24; Tied 21–21 )
(7:34) SYR – LeQuint Allen 2-yard run, Jackson Kennedy kick (Drive: 8 plays, 94 yards, 2:49; Syracuse 28–21 )
(0:13) SYR – Oronde Gadsden II 5-yard pass from Kyle McCord, Jackson Kennedy kick (Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 2:55; Syracuse 35–21 ) Third quarter (2:06) WSU – Carlos Hernandez 42-yard pass from Zevi Eckhaus, Dean Janikowski kick (Drive: 10 plays, 79 yards, 5:02; Syracuse 35–28 )
(1:19) SYR – Trebor Pena 45-yard pass from Kyle McCord, Jackson Kennedy kick (Drive: 2 plays, 49 yards, 0:39; Syracuse 42–28 ) Fourth quarter (9:19) SYR – Jackson Kennedy 30-yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 54 yards, 4:56; Syracuse 45–28 )
(3:23) SYR – LeQuint Allen 33-yard pass from Kyle McCord, Jackson Kennedy kick (Drive: 3 plays, 80 yards, 1:39; Syracuse 52–28 )
(0:09) WSU – Branden Ganashamoorthy 9-yard pass from Zevi Eckhaus, Dean Janikowski kick (Drive: 11 plays, 67 yards, 3:06; Syracuse 52–35 )
Statistics
Statistics
SU
WSU
First downs
28
24
Plays–yards
60–606
74–472
Rushes–yards
26–153
31–109
Passing yards
453
363
Passing: comp –att –int
24–34–0
31–43–2
Time of possession
25:24
34:36
Team
Category
Player
Statistics
Syracuse
Passing
Kyle McCord 24/34, 453 yards, 5 TD
Rushing
LeQuint Allen 17 carries, 120 yards, 2 TD
Receiving
Darrell Gill Jr.
4 receptions, 145 yards
Washington State
Passing
Zevi Eckhaus 31/43, 363 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Rushing
Leo Pulalasi
14 carries, 61 yards
Receiving
Kyle Williams
10 receptions, 172 yards, TD
References
^ "Syracuse Caps 2024 with Holiday Bowl Victory" . cuse.com . December 27, 2024. Retrieved December 28, 2024 .^ Austro, Ben (December 9, 2024). "2024-25 bowl officiating assignments" . footballzebras.com . Retrieved December 10, 2024 . ^ a b c "2024 DirecTV Holiday Bowl Set for December 27th" . holidaybowl.com (Press release). August 27, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024 .^ "Winsipedia – Syracuse Orange vs. Washington State Cougars" . Winsipedia.com . Retrieved December 8, 2024 .^ Luck, Melissa (December 18, 2024). "WSU names acting head coach for Holiday Bowl" . KXLY-TV . Retrieved December 18, 2024 .
External links
History & conference tie-ins Games
