That’s a wrap! Syracuse tames Cougars in Holiday Bowl win 52-35

The 2024 season will go down in the books as one of the best for Syracuse football after a 52-35 win in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl over the Washington State Cougars.

In his first year as head coach, Fran Brown led the Orange to ten wins. It’s only the third time this century the program eclipsed the double-digit win mark. The former UGA defensive backs coach understood what the accomplishment meant.

“I think that ten wins shows we are becoming a successful program,” Brown said in the postgame press conference.

Photo by Daniel Gaither

Syracuse University running back LeQuint Allen Jr. scores a touchdown in the first quarter on Friday to give the team the 14-7 lead. The junior running back finished with 165 yards from scrimmage and scored three times.

The tenth win also tied a program record. The rookie head coach now joins Paul Pasqualoni as the only Syracuse football head coaches to win ten or more games in their first season. Additionally, the win is SU’s first bowl victory since 2018.

In its first bowl win in six years, Syracuse broke previous postseason highs for the program. The Orange’s 52 points were the most they have ever scored in a bowl game, shattering the record of 41 points scored in the 1996 Gator Bowl. The majority of the 52 points came off the right hand of quarterback Kyle McCord.

Photo by Daniel Gaither

Syracuse University wide receiver Trebor Pena and running back Yasin Willis celebrate after Pena’s touchdown in the first quarter puts the Orange on the scoreboard. Pena finished with 70 receiving yards and two touchdown catches.

The former Buckeye had an all-time day against the Cougars. McCord not only tossed for over 450 yards and a career-high five touchdown passes, he also placed himself in ACC history.

McCord’s 50-yard launch to wide receiver Darrell Gill Jr. early in the third quarter gave the transfer senior the single-season ACC passing yards record.

McCord’s 4,779 passing yards easily surpassed Clemson’s Deshaun Watson’s previous mark of 4,593 yards set in 2016.

Absolute dime to break the ACC single season passing yards record! @kylemccord16
pic.twitter.com/PReOsCU1EJ

— Syracuse Football (@CuseFootball) December 28, 2024

The Orange’s signal caller credited his surroundings for his historic season.

“God put me in a great situation with a lot of great people… I think to get in that environment is what really allowed me to succeed,” McCord told the media after the game.

The situation around the four-star transfer was one-of-one. Syracuse is the only team in the nation with four players with 60 or more receptions. The receiver-by-committee approach continued Friday night: five different SU players caught at least three passes. One of those five, running back LeQuint Allen, also made his way into the record books.

Photo by Daniel Gaither

Syracuse University defensive backs Cornell Perry and Davien Kerr tackle Washington State running back Josh Joyner in the fourth quarter.

The junior found the endzone three times in the Holiday Bowl, including twice through the air. Allen’s hat-trick pushed his season total to 20, the second most in program history. The former backup to Sean Tucker now joins him as the only players in Syracuse history to rush for 1,000 yards and receive 200 yards in back-to-back seasons.

Despite countless broken records in his first year, numbers won’t be the thing Brown remembers most about SU’s historic season. In a season where the program won a bowl game, ended the year ranked, and had its most prolific offense of all time, Brown says the memory of his first season is more important than that.

Photo by Daniel Gaither

Syracuse University players celebrate and pose for photos after the team’s 52-35 victory over Washington State University in the DirectTV Holiday Bowl. It is SU’s first bowl win since 2018.

“The players, practice, having fun, miss the jokes,” Brown said. “The games are cool because everyone can see that, but just the stuff we do all week together…I just love being in the locker room, same with the guys, just being one of the guys is what’s really important to me.”

Brown’s roster won’t look the same next year when Syracuse football kicks off the 2025 season against Tennessee in Atlanta. Until then, SU brings the Holiday Bowl trophy back to campus to officially close a historic 2024.