QB McCord, on Record-Breaking Night, Guides Syracuse to 52-35 Win in Holiday Bowl

Kyle McCord threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns to break Deshaun Watson’s Atlantic Coast Conference season passing record and lead No. 22 Syracuse to a 52-35 victory in the Holiday Bowl.

Washington State was depleted, yet scrappy Friday at Snapdragon Stadium but it wasn’t enough as LeQuint Allen rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns for his second straight 1,000-yard season for the Orange (10-3).

Syracuse completed their first 10-win season since 2018 and Fran Brown joined Paul Pasqualoni (1991) as the only Orange coaches since World War II to win 10 games in their first season.

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

— Syracuse Football (@CuseFootball) December 28, 2024

McCord, the national passing leader, came in with 4,326 yards, which was fifth on the ACC’s season list, and needed 268 yards to break Watson’s record of 4,593, set in 15 games in 2016 at Clemson.

McCord broke the record by a yard on the Orange’s first play of the second half on a 50-yard pass to Darrell Gill Jr., who made a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch. McCord finished with 4,779 yards.

“Just to be sitting here and have that record now is crazy to see how everything comes full circle,” said McCord, who transferred from Ohio State.

Kyle to OG never gets old ????
pic.twitter.com/uWd7neLN6S— Syracuse Football (@CuseFootball) December 28, 2024

The coach said the Orange saw McCord’s competitiveness from the first day of workouts.

“He’s not selfish at all,” Brown said. “He cares about everyone else. He’s very, very competitive.

“We were in the weight room, we had an old vintage weight room. They had pushups that they were doing, and he was one of the last guys to go down. Everybody stopped and he just kept going, and from that moment I knew, like, ‘Oh, this dude’s tough.’ And everyone else knew that he was tough,”

McCord was 24 of 34. Gill had 145 yards on four catches and Jackson Meeks had five catches for 110 yards. Trebor Pena and Oronde Gadsden II each had two touchdown catches.

The Cougars (8-5) lost their fourth straight game but were spirited despite losing coach Jake Dickert to Wake Forest, quarterback John Mateer to Oklahoma, both coordinators and the quarterbacks and running backs coach, as well as having more than 20 players depart via the transfer portal.

Zevi Eckhaus, who threw only seven passes in the regular season as Mateer’s backup, threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. Kyle Williams had 10 catches for 172 yards to break Dez Bryant’s Holiday Bowl record of 168 yards receiving, set in 2008.

Washington State took a 21-14 lead with two touchdowns in just more than a minute late in the first quarter. Kyle Williams caught a short pass and turned it into a 66-yard touchdown. On the ensuing Syracuse possession, Leon Neal Jr. blocked a punt and Josh Meredith returned it 12 yards for a score.

But Syracuse scored three times in the second quarter for a 35-21 lead. McCord threw scoring passes of 18 and 5 yards to Gadsden sandwiched around a 2-yard touchdown run by Allen. Yet the Cougars kept it close until they were overwhelmed in the second half.

Syracuse was a 17-point favorite according to BetMGM.

In addition to the ACC mark, McCord extended his school single-season records to 4,779 yards passing, 34 touchdown passes, 391 completions and 558 attempts.

Syracuse opens its 2025 schedule against Tennessee at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Aug. 30.

Washington State must hire a new coach for next season, which begins Aug. 30 in Pullman against Idaho.