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Dec. 28—Making his first start in over a year and first in the crimson and gray, Washington State quarterback Zevi Eckhaus led the Cougs to an eight-play, 68-yard scoring drive on the first possession of the DirecTV Holiday Bowl on Friday.
Eckhaus and senior Kyle Williams shined for the Cougs, but it was the No. 21 Syracuse Orange who would come away with the 52-35 bowl victory at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego in a game that featured a plethora of broken records.
On that first drive, Eckhaus connected with Williams twice, including a deep 38-yard completion up the right sideline which set up Eckhaus, who watched former WSU QB John Mateer cash in on 15 rushing touchdowns through 12 games under center, to dash 4 yards for his own rushing score.
WSU led 7-0 in the first quarter and the collective stress of losing a head coach, an offensive coordinator, a starting quarterback and over 30 players to the transfer portal seemed to evaporate with the ear-to-ear grin of acting head coach Pete Kaligis and the elated energy and steady leadership of Eckhaus, Williams and the 96 other Cougs who made the trip to San Diego.
With 30 teammates in the transfer portal and coach Jake Dickert having left the team nine days earlier for Wake Forest, Eckhaus passed for 363 yards and Williams made 10 catches for a Holiday Bowl-record 172 yards, but the Cougars couldn’t keep pace with record-setting QB Kyle McCord and the Syracuse Orange.
Kyle Williams thrills
While Mateer led the nation in total touchdowns with 44, Williams was an X-factor for WSU his last two seasons in Pullman and kept the Cougar offense grooving Friday in San Diego.
Williams’ bowl-record yardage included a 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Eckhaus said in his postgame news conference that the kind of game that Williams had does not just happen.
“This kid’s character is…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/shorthanded-cougars-impress-holiday-bowl-131600449.html
Author : Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
Publish date : 2024-12-28 13:16:00
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