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Syracuse’s first regular season under Fran Brown was historic. The Orange finished 9-3 — their best mark since 2018 — as Brown became the third first-year head coach since World War II to helm the Orange to a winning record.

To cap the regular season, Syracuse defeated then-No. 8 Miami 42-38. In the regular-season finale, Kyle McCord outdueled Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward to overcome a 21-point deficit — the largest in program history.

Closing out the 2024 season, Syracuse travels to the West Coast for the third time to face Washington State in the Holiday Bowl. In Snapdragon Stadium — the home of San Diego State University — the Cougars will be without much of their roster. Former head coach Jake Dickert departed for Wake Forest while quarterback John Mateer transferred to Oklahoma. The Cougars are expected to be without both of their original coordinators and 28 players.

The Orange will likely have their entire roster available other than a few defensive backs currently in the transfer portal.

Here’s how our beat writers think No. 22 Syracuse (9-3, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) will fare against Washington State (8-4, 0-1 Pac-12) in the Holiday Bowl:

Aiden Stepansky (7-5)
Slam Diego
Syracuse 44, Washington State 17

We haven’t been the most trustworthy predictors this season. However, Syracuse’s bowl game shouldn’t be too complicated. Within the new age of college football, Wazzu’s 2024 team has deteriorated due to the transfer portal and Dickert’s move to Wake Forest. The situation is quite similar to the Orange’s in the Boca Raton Bowl a year ago. This time, though, Syracuse is on the stronger side.

SU will be without a couple defensive backs who entered the portal but, for the most part, appear as loaded as any non-playoff team in the country. This disparity will be on display early and often in San Diego. I see the Orange slamming down the Cougars Friday, posting an explosive offensive display while hindering any inkling of an offense thrown together by Washington State.

McCord will feed the trio of Jackson Meeks, Oronde Gadsden II and Trebor Peña plenty, skyrocketing their season totals until Brown decides to put substitutes in. While I expect LeQuint Allen Jr. to play a lot early, we could see higher usage of Yasin Willis as SU puts the game out of reach. Willis could break out and solidify himself as the future of SU’s backfield, much like Allen did in 2022 at the Pinstripe Bowl.

No matter how they slice it, the Orange will cruise to their 10th win of the season, further fortifying the first year under Brown and a new era of Syracuse football.

Cooper Andrews (6-6)
Send in the subs
Syracuse 45, Washington State 7

Bowl season is ruined. The games, unfortunately, hardly matter. NIL and the transfer portal have ravaged postseason college football to the point where stars typically don’t bother to play. Even the most prestigious bowls — known as the New Year’s Six — were neutered after they became mere stages in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

That’s why Brown deserves his props for emphatically declaring his best players will be on the field Friday in San Diego. At least Syracuse is doing its part to preserve postseason football. Its opponent isn’t, however. Twenty-eight Washington State players have hit the portal since the regular season ended, and the Cougars’ head coach left for Wake Forest.

So, that leaves McCord, Meeks, Gadsden and Peña against a squadron of unknowns. Friday’s outcome screams bloodbath. McCord will slice and dice the Wazzu secondary en route to a four passing-touchdown first half, while Elijah Robinson’s defensive unit will rarely allow the Cougars to pass midfield. Syracuse’s backups will be in by the third quarter.

The first game Brown watched after being hired by SU was its 45-0 Boca Raton Bowl disaster versus USF last December. Just over a year later, Brown’s Orange will experience the other side of a massive blowout.

Justin Girshon (5-7)
Joey Chestnut eggnogs Fran Brown
Syracuse 38, Washington State 17

Syracuse has won double-digit games just twice this century: 10 wins in 2001 and 2018. That figure will increase to three on Friday night as the Orange will win their first bowl game since 2018. As alluded to above, there’s a clear roster discrepancy between the two programs.

On one hand, Washington State is the most depleted team in the country because of its program’s outlook. On the other, SU is loaded with practically its entire roster because of how impactful Brown’s first season at the helm was.

As one program is in shambles and the other is on the rise, I don’t see the Holiday Bowl being competitive whatsoever. McCord and Co., as they did throughout the season, will come out firing and help the Orange take an early lead. After Syracuse builds a 20-plus point halftime lead, I see Brown displaying some of his younger players and backups to cap a nearly perfect first season as a head coach.

While 10 wins fall short of Brown’s ultimate goal, a national championship, getting covered in eggnog by Joey Chestnut to round out a 10-win season is a pretty damn good way to enshrine this year’s squad as arguably SU’s best this century.

Published on December 26, 2024 at 5:17 pm