Carter's career day leads Orange past Akron

All week, the questions surrounding Akron's visit to the Carrier Dome involved the Orange's iffy quarterback situation.

The way things went Saturday, it might not have mattered who took the snaps for Syracuse, as long as they could hand the ball off.

Delone Carter ran for a career-high 170 yards and three touchdowns as the Orange avenged last year's embarrassing loss to the Zips with a 28-14 victory.  Carter also set a career high in rushing attempts, carrying the ball 30 times, most of them coming in the second half as Syracuse wore out the Zips' defense.

With Syracuse having an open date the previous week, it gave the fans and media around the team plenty of time to ponder head coach Doug Marrone's decision on who to start under center for the rest of the season.  While Greg Paulus got the coach's official vote of confidence, freshman Ryan Nassib's increased playing time over the past two games gave people plenty of reason to wonder if he wouldn't take over by season's end.

Paulus started and played the entire game Saturday, but it was clear that Marrone and the offensive staff took the bye week to change the game plan and shift the focus onto Carter and the running game.

Paulus finished the game 12-17 for 105 yards and a touchdown on an 11-yard strike to Marcus Sales in the third quarter to give Syracuse the lead for good at 21-14.

Carter stole the show after the opening kickoff, but a bigger story was made before the game when Syracuse announced the one-game suspension of star wideout Mike Williams for a violation of team rules.  Williams was sixth in the nation with 118.7 receiving yards per game and seventh in the nation in receptions per game at 7.5.  The university would not give any specifics about Williams' infraction, but they expressed that it was only for Saturday's game.

Williams, Paulus, Carter and company will host the fifth-ranked team in the country, the Cincinnati Bearcats, on Halloween next weekend.  Kickoff is scheduled for noon and Syracuse is expecting their biggest crowd at the Dome in years, as the Orange have a chance to end the national-championship dreams of the undefeated Bearcats, who will be playing without starting quarterback Tony Pike for the second straight week.

The curious case of Syracuse's QB "controversy"

You're the head coach of a Division-I BCS football program.  You're 2-4 at midseason.  Your bowl chances are going down faster than Kanye West's career.

You've got a senior QB, on his way out at the end of the season.  He's been struggling with turnovers and a lack of production in your last two losses, both in conference play.  He's your leader and has been the face of the team since season's beginning.

You've also got a redshirt fresman.  A newcomer.  He's played well in spot duty all year and threw two touchdowns in last week's game in the second half of a blowout.  He's the next face of the team.

What do you do?

Well, anyone in their right mind would choose the second option, wouldn't they? That's where it gets complicated for Doug Marrone and the rest of the Syracuse football coaching staff.

Not only is the QB a senior and the face of your team, he's Greg Paulus.  Yes, that's right.  The Greg Paulus.  You know, that guy from Duke.  A national story in and of himself.  An All-American boy both in personality and basketball prowess.

Paulus has provided so much to the Orange in terms of promotions, ticket sales, marketing, advertising and recruiting, there is no way Marrone can bench him, right?  Attendance is at a high not seen since the turn of the century and fan excitement is up at similar levels.  Sure, some of it is due to an exciting new head coach and the return of a national star in receiver Mike Williams, but Paulus sure has a lot to do with it as well.

And it's not even as if Paulus' season has been that bad. He is 108-169 for 1187 yards, eight touchdowns and ten interceptions in 2009.

The problem lies in the fact that Paulus' case is so different, so exceptional, so riddled with questions that no one at Syracuse or sitting in the Carrier Dome stands on Saturdays knows the correct strategy to play here.  He's a freshman in playing time, experience and football IQ, but he's a senior in leadership, moxie, and maturity. It's a one-of-a-kind situation, and not necessarily in a good way.

Ryan Nassib, on the other hand, is a redshirt freshman who was tagged the starter before Paulus' name ever came up in Central New York.  Nassib is 11-21 for 150 yards and two scores on the season, while not turning the ball over at all.  Nassib is clearly penciled in as the starter for the foreseeable future, but when does that future start?

Marrone has stated publicly that there is no controversy, no decision to make, no considerations to take in.  Paulus is the starter.  Case closed.

I'd have to agree with Marrone for now.  Riding out the Paulus train until the end of the season is the right move, even with a few five-interception games here or a 5-9, 30 yard, one-interception half there.  Paulus has brought an identity and a national focus to an Orange team that had lacked any semblance of talent for nearly ten years.  He deserves the opportunity to play out his career and do what he came to Syracuse to do.

If it miraculously ends in a bowl game, fantastic. But it's not a necessity to deem the experiment a success.

Paulus has put Williams on the NFL map by feeding him footballs constantly.  He has single-handedly drawn visits from NFL scouts and media figures alike, all wanting to see a piece of this otherworldly exhibit.

Ryan Nassib will have to wait his turn, for now.

Paulus experiment working out for Orange

To say that people around Syracuse were skeptical when Greg Paulus was named the starting quarterback for the 2009 Orange football team is a huge understatement.

After four years as one of the most hated/loved (depending which side you're on) college basketball players in the country, the Syracuse native was coming home to play a sport that he once starred in...five years earlier in high school.

So far, the naysayers have been quieted.

Paulus has almost single-handedly made Syracuse football relevant again, leading the Orange to a 37-34 win over Northwestern last Saturday while playing Minnesota and Penn State tough in losing efforts the first two weeks. 

The stats are there to show Paulus' progress, but they tell only some of the story.  Paulus has completed 66% of his passes so far, throwing for four touchdowns and four interceptions.  He has also shown great mobility in and out of the pocket, rushing for a ten-yard touchdown last weekend.

Most of all, Paulus has brought leadership and hope to a place that so desperately needed both after a four-year run that saw Syracuse go 9-36 and win just three conference games. 

Paulus has been a model quarterback for the Orange, saying all the right things in the media, staying after practice to watch extra film and treating the loyal Syracuse fan base with great respect.  Paulus was the last one off the field after Saturday's win after running down the student-section sideline to give high-fives to everyone in the front row. 

The mistakes have been there, of course.  After not playing competitive football for five years, they were expected.  For example, an overtime interception in the opening-day loss to Minnesota cost the Orange a chance to start 1-0, and a late fumble in last weekend's game allowed the Northwestern offense to get great field position and score to take a 34-27 lead in the fourth quarter. 

Paulus has the odd situation of being both a senior and a freshman at once.  With only one year of eligibility, he was forced to learn a new offense on the fly, along with the rest of the Orange under new head coach Doug Marrone.  Marrone has praised Paulus' smarts and football intelligence, however, and has done a fantastic job of keeping the offense somewhat simple and sticking with Paulus' strengths. 

Marrone and offensive coordinator Rob Spence have kept Paulus in the spread system he ran in high school at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, where he won the Gatorade National Player of the Year award.  He is less of a traditional pocket quarterback because of his size (he was a point guard after all), but he makes up for it with elusiveness in the pocket and a knack for throwing well when rolling out to his right or left.

The real question is whether Paulus' body can handle a full football season, especially once Big East play begins and the weaknesses in Syracuse's offensive line are exploited by power teams like Connecticut and Cincinnati. 

If Paulus can lead the Orange to a 6-6 record and a bowl appearance, I wouldn't be surprised to see a statue in his honor go up in front of the Carrier Dome. But even without the postseason, Paulus has brought crowds back to the Dome and hope back to the program, and really, that's all anyone could have asked of him. 

Freshman kicker, senior QB lead Syracuse to first victory

Syracuse Orange fans had talked all week about how, even though the team had been making progress, they needed something tangible to make it real.  Even though the team had been playing harder, better, and faster than in the past five years, the improvements required one thing to prove it:  A win.

The 40-thousand-plus at the Carrier Dome on Saturday night went home with their wishes granted as Syracuse pulled off a 37-34 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats.

In a game that went back and forth, featured five turnovers and also saw a 24-yard touchdown reception by Northwestern's quarterback, the Orange ended up victorious on freshman kicker Ryan Lichtenstein's 41-yard field goal as time expired.

Syracuse's offense finally clicked in the third game of the season after putting up just 27 points in the first two losses to Minnesota and Penn State.  Senior quarterback Greg Paulus finished 24 of 35 for 346 yards and two touchdowns, both to wide receiver Mike Williams.  Paulus also ran for a 10-yard score in the first quarter and Williams finished with career-highs in yards (206) and catches (12).

Syracuse jumped out to an early 17-0 lead in the first quarter after Paulus' run, a Lichtenstein field goal, and a 66-yard strike to a wide-open Williams.  Northwestern then scored 21 unanswered points after a Syracuse fumble.  The Orange came back to lead 24-21 going into the locker room for halftime after Delone Carter pounded in a three-yard touchdown score with a minute to go.  They had a chance to add on to the lead, but Paulus threw his only interception of the night in the end zone, keeping the lead at three.

Northwestern took a 28-27 lead after a trick play with 17 seconds left in the third quarter.  Quarterback Mike Kafka (35/42, 390 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT) handed the ball to receiver Andrew Brewer on an end around to the left side of the field.  With Syracuse's defense swarming the ball, Brewer turned and threw back across the field to a wide open Kafka, who had blockers lined up and waltzed into the end zone for a 24-yard score.

On the ensuing possession, Paulus lost a costly fumble and Northwestern capitalized as Kafka and Demetrius Fields hooked up for a three-yard touchdown, giving Northwestern a 34-27 lead.  Northwestern kicker Stefan Demos then made the biggest gaffe of the night, missing the extra point to keep the lead at seven.

The Orange fought back as Paulus hit Williams again, this time for 13 yards, and Syracuse tied the game at 34.

With Northwestern driving for the game-winning score with a little over a minute left in the game, Kafka dropped back to throw, was pressured by Syracuse defensive tackle Art Jones, and ended up throwing an interception to Orange safety Max Suter, who returned the pick 22 yards to the Northwestern 39-yard line.  Paulus hit Williams for eight yards and Donte Davis for four yards to get Syracuse into field goal range for Lichtenstein, a walk-on who just earned a scholarship last week.

Syracuse running back Delone Carter added 76 yards and a touchdown.  In the first quarter, Carter became the 39th running back in Orange history to rush for 1,000 career yards.

With the loss, Northwestern fell to 2-1 on the season.  The Wildcats will host Minnesota in their conference opener next Saturday.

Syracuse coach Doug Marrone earned his first career win as the Orange moved to 1-2 on the season.  The Orange will play Maine, an FCS Subdivision team, next week at the Dome at 7:00.

Syracuse continues slow growth in 28-7 loss to Penn State

For the second consecutive week, the Syracuse Orange football team begrudgingly walked into the locker room as losers. But, for the second consecutive week, there were flashes and hints of possible things to build on, speaking from an optimistic view.

Duke-point-guard-turned-Syracuse-quarterback Greg Paulus played relatively well in just his second career start, finishing the game 14-for-20 for 105 yards while throwing a garbage-time touchdown pass to Donte Davis. The Nittany Lions also intercepted Paulus twice off of tipped passes, one of them a drop by freshman receiver Alec Lemon.

Head coach Doug Marrone also made good use of the "Stallion" (Wildcat) formation for the second week in a row, using backup quarterback Ryan Nassib to throw from the usually run-heavy set. Nassib finished the game 4-for-5 for 30 yards, but Marrone insisted after the game that there was no sniff of a dreaded quarterback controversy.

"I think we'll need both quarterbacks to help us win this year," Marrone said in the post-game press conference.

While Penn State ended up with 28 points on the game, the Orange defense played relatively well for a second straight week. After an opening-drive 49-yard touchdown pass from Penn State quarterback Darryl Clark to do-it-all running back Evan Royster, it looked like a repeat of 2008's 55-13 blowout in the Carrier Dome.

The Orange defense, however, made a 4th-and-goal stand from the one-yard-line on the Nittany Lions' next possession, seemingly shifting the momentum back to Syracuse. But the Syracuse offense, as they did most of the game, struggled to move the ball and went three-and-out, giving Penn State the ball back at midfield.

This was the story of the game for the Orange. There were plays made on the defensive side of the ball, but the offense couldn't sustain any drives long enough to put points on the board. Eventually, with all the Nittany Lion fire power, it was clear that Penn State was going to put the ball in the endzone.

After a Kevyn Scott interception late in the second quarter, it looked like the Orange had a chance to cut Penn State's lead from 14 to seven and go into the locker room with just a one-touchdown deficit. After some short throws down the field and five minutes gone off the clock, Syracuse was forced to attempt a 51-yard field goal which fell well short and kept the halftime score 14-0.

Penn State's Clark finished the game with 240 yards and three touchdowns, showing no signs of slowing after losing his top three receivers from last season. The Orange defensive line kept the Nittany Lions' running game fairly silent though, holding them to just 78 yards on the ground, 41 of them from Royster.

Syracuse, who was 1-for-13 on third down in last week's loss to Minnesota, was just 5-for-13 in Happy Valley on Saturday. The playcalling continued to be conservative, especially through the air. So far it seems Marrone and his staff are afraid to put too much in Paulus' hands early in the season.

Syracuse fell to 0-2 for the fourth consecutive season as seventh-ranked Penn State moved to 2-0.

Syracuse gets its third Big Ten matchup in a row next week as Northwestern comes to the Carrier Dome. Penn State will look to remain undefeated at home against the lightweight Temple Owls.