History is being made on December 27 when Syracuse Orange play in their first ever Holiday Bowl at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. They take on Washington State Cougars who are playing in their fifth Holiday Bowl, though only one of those previous appearances has been won.
This is the 45th annual Holiday Bowl and one of many of the Bowls being contested in the coming weeks. It was first staged in 1978. It’s the first time the match has been held at the Snapdragon Stadium. From 1978 to 2019, it was played at San Diego Stadium. The Holiday Bowl wasn’t held in either 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic. For the past two years, it’s been staged at Petco Park but now moves to the Snapdragon Stadium.
Syracuse Orange will be representing the Atlantic Coast Conference and will hope to have a winning debut against their Pac-12 Conference opponents. This is only the second match between these two sides. There’s been a long wait for the return match after Syracuse won that game 52-25.
Syracuse are the odds-on favorites to win this match. A close Holiday Bowl is expected though and New York’s online sportsbooks as per NYBet do not expect Syracuse to win both halves. They are expected to score a touchdown in both halves. Getting the lead is so important and the odds are in favor of the team that initially goes ahead going on to win the match.
The last three matches played by Syracuse Orange have all been won. Wins have come away at California and at home to UConn and Miami. Their last loss was at Boston College on November 9 when being beaten 37-31. Nine of their 12 matches have ended in victory and that saw them finish fourth in the conference.
The final CFP rankings had Syracuse Orange in 21st position. This is a massive match for their head coach Fran Brown who is in his first year in the job. They will be hoping for another great performance from their quarterback Kyle McCord. Since he joined from Ohio State, he’s achieved 4,236 passing yards and an impressive 29 touchdown passes.
Also looking to have a great Holiday Bowl match will be their running back LeQuint Allen with 901 rushing yards, 14 touchdowns and an average rush of 4.3 yards.
The Washington State Cougars have won eight of their 12 matches this season but come into this match having lost the last three they’ve played. Those defeats were inflicted by New Mexico, Oregon State and Wyoming.
That doesn’t sound great form but the aggregate margin for those three losses was just seven points and only the Wyoming match was played at home. There are only two teams in the Pac-12 and Washington finished behind Oregon State losing to them 41-38 last month. At one stage this season they were ranking 18th in the college football rankings but ended up dropping out of the rankings.
Their one win in the Holiday Bowl came in 2003. Before that they had lost in 1981 and since then have been beaten in both 2016 and 2017 by Minnesota and Michigan State.
It’s a big occasion for the Cougars and their coach Jake Dickert can’t wait for the Holiday Bowl to take place. Speaking at a news conference, he said that he’s “really excited” to play in such a prestigious match. He’s looking forward to playing Syracuse and says that their opponents have “one of the best passers in all the country.”
Dickert sees this match as “one more opportunity to send our senior class out the right way.” His team has already played in San Diego once this season. They beat San Diego State 29-26 in October, their third success in a run of four straight victories. A repeat of that result would certainly put a big smile on Dickert’s face on December 27.
There have been problems with the conditions at the Snapdragon Stadium this season. Dirt and sand has been kicked up but the hope is that no such problem will occur for this important match between Syracuse Orange and Washington State. The Washington coach says that he has heard the field has been resodded and that it “should be in pristine condition” for the Holiday Bowl.
Syracuse’s chances of a first Holiday Bowl win have received a boost with the news Washington’s Wayshawn Parker won’t be playing. The running back has entered the transfer portal. Also missing for them will be starting cornerback Ethan O’Connor and two of their reserve players, Brandon Hills and Warren Smith.
They plan on using some players who haven’t featured so far this season. This should be a great match and it looks as if it will be Syracuse Orange who will have most to celebrate at its conclusion.
