On Friday, December 27th, we’ll see the Syracuse Orange and Washington State Cougars clash in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl. This is the fourth of five games on the schedule for Friday, and it’ll be interesting to see how this one goes. Keep reading for odds, analysis and predictions for this showdown. But make sure you also check out our College Football Bowl Games Hub for all of our VSiN college football betting content.
DirecTV Holiday Bowl: Syracuse Orange vs. Washington State Cougars
How To Watch Syracuse vs. Washington State
Where: Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California
When: 8:00 pm ET on Friday, December 27th
Channel: FOX
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Syracuse vs. Washington State Odds
Moneyline: Syracuse -675, Washington State +490
Spread: Syracuse -16 (-110), Washington State (-110)
Total: Over 59.5 (-108), Under 59.5 (-112)
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publish. They can change. Shop around for the best prices!
Syracuse vs. Washington State Prediction
Syracuse only has one starter in the portal, as cornerback Jayden Bellamy plans to play elsewhere next season. However, Orange head coach Fran Brown says that everybody else will be out there and ready to go, including quarterback Kyle McCord. The Cougars aren’t in a similar boat. Washington State has 11 starters in the transfer portal, including star quarterback John Mateer — who is following offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Oklahoma. The Cougars also lost head coach Jake Dickert to Wake Forest, and almost the entire staff is nowhere to be found.
It’s genuinely shocking that Washington State plans to play this game. Sure, there are probably some players on this Cougars squad that want to see out the end of the season, but this has the potential to go very poorly. This is a team that no longer players in a Power Four conference, so the talent isn’t exactly there to begin with. And these are going to be mostly second teamers facing the Orange.
Syracuse is a rock-solid football team, which was on full display in wins over Miami, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and UNLV. This game is likely going to get ugly, which is why the spread is extremely lopsided. But I’m not sure the number is big enough.
Even when Washington State had its full crew on defense, the team was just 88th in the nation in EPA per play allowed (0.033). With several starters out the door, I don’t see the Cougars keeping the Orange out of the end zone. Syracuse was 20th in the country in EPA per play (0.074) during the regular season, and the team was explosive in the passing game. McCord should throw all over this Washington State defense, and I don’t see the Cougars keeping up.
Without Mateer, Wayshawn Parker and Kris Hutson, there’s just not much left to be excited about with this Washington State offense. Zevi Eckhaus was a productive quarterback at Bryant, but this is a big step up in competition. And it’s not like he’ll have Arbuckle, one of the best offensive minds in football, calling the shots.
Syracuse should win this game by at least three touchdowns, so I’ll be taking the Orange to cover the spread. However, if you do have some faith in the Cougars scoring, you can go with the Over. The Over was 7-4-1 in Syracuse’s games this season, and it also hit in the only game the Orange played as a favorite between 10 and 21 points.
Pick: Syracuse -16 (-110)
