WSU to face Syracuse in San Diego’s Holiday Bowl

Washington State will face Syracuse in the DirectTV Holiday Bowl at 5 p.m. Dec. 27 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Calif., it was announced Sunday. Fox will broadcast the game.

This will be WSU’s fifth time participating in the Holiday Bowl, having previously played in the game in 1981, 2003, 2016 and 2017.

It is the Cougars' ninth bowl in game since 2013.

WSU (8-4) returns to a future Pac-12 Conference venue where on Oct. 26 it completed a 12-point fourth-quarter comeback to beat San Diego State.

This time, the Cougs will face the Syracuse Orange (9-3) of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Orange finished as the No. 21 team in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Syracuse is home to the nation’s leading passer. Orange quarterback Kyle McCord transferred from Ohio State and completed 65.6% of his passes for a 2024 season-leading 4,326 yards with 29 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.

WSU announced that tickets for the DirectTV Holiday Bowl are available at wsucougars.com .

WSU will enter this postseason contest against the No. 1 passer in the country missing a starting cornerback and several other players who have elected to enter the transfer portal,

True freshman running back Wayshawn Parker was the first to announce his departure on Wednesday followed by redshirt freshman cornerback Ethan O’Connor’s announcement on Saturday.

WSU coach Jake Dickert said he expects 15-20 of WSU’s players to enter the portal.

WSU quarterback John Mateer has not announced his intention to transfer and was present at WSU’s Friday practice.

The transfer portal opens Monday and players can enter it at any time before it closes in early January. A spring transfer window opens in April to align with the country’s academic calendar.