Greg Paulus or Ryan Nassib: Quarterback Controversy at Syracuse's Carrier Dome

Syracuse's first drive against the West Virginia Mountaineer defense on Saturday opened with promise. Running backs Antwon Bailey, Delone Carter and Averin Collier had moved the ball 26 yards down the field on the ground and quarterback Greg Paulus completed his first pass attempt to tight end Mike Owen for a solid eight-yard pick-up.

The Orange were moving the ball.

However, on the seventh play, the drive was derailed in a tragically familiar fashion for the Orange as Paulus threw a terrible interception.

The play aroused bad memories of an overtime interception that sealed Syracuse's fate against Minnesota in the season opener as well as the five that plagued the former Duke point guard against South Florida last week.

The West Virginia defense erupted in celebration as they jogged off the field, giving the ball to Jarrett Brown, Noel Divine and the WVU offense with great field position.

Eight seconds and one 11-yard pass from Brown to Divine later, WVU had a 7-0 lead.

Paulus finished the half with an unimpressive stat line: 5-of-9 for 30 yards and an interception.

With a 27-0 deficit at the start of the second half, it was not No. 2, but No. 12, redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib, who took the reins of the Syracuse offense. Nassib performed decently, completing 7-of-16 passes (with at least four drops by Orange receivers) for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Included was a 50-yard completion to star receiver Mike Williams on a beautiful double play-action fake, the same play that resulted in Paulus-to-Williams touchdowns of similar length against Northwestern, Maine and USF.

Nassib's performance was far from perfect. Many of his incompletions came on throws behind his receivers or over their heads. And his touch left something to be desired.

However, the undeniable zip on his passes wowed the announced crowd of 40,144 at the Carrier Dome, leading many to call for his insertion into the starting lineup.

After the game, Doug Marrone quickly ended that speculation, stating that Paulus was his quarterback and would start in Syracuse's next game against Akron on Oct. 24.

Marrone's announcement has done little to temper the Paulus-Nassib debate amongst Syracuse fans.

Paulus supporters cite the senior's successes against Northwestern and Maine. The Nassib camp looks towards the future of the program, saying that Marrone should get Nassib valuable game experience since he is the heir-apparent for the position anyway.

Marrone needs to start whoever gives the team the best chance to win this season.

Syracuse football is at a crossroads.

Doug Marrone is in his first season and has said and done all of the right things off the field. In addition, the on-field performance has been much better than it was under former head coach Greg Robinson.

However, the only thing that is going to rejuvenate this proud program is pretty obvious.

In the words of Syracuse alumnus Al Davis, "Just win baby."

Attendance in the Dome (especially among students) is absolutely stagnant. If Syracuse is going to contend in the games it faces a talent gap, it needs a full "Loud House."

If they are going to recruit well, which Marrone has been doing thus far, a full stadium is instrumental. Promise and hope brought people out for Minnesota and Northwestern, but the numbers have been slipping steadily since.

Going to a bowl is the easiest way to propel the program back into the national scene, and it is still achievable for the Orange this season. They have won two games after two very strong performances by Paulus.

Entering the game against West Virginia, Paulus was on pace to break multiple single-season records for Syracuse passers, eclipsing greats like Donovan McNabb, Don McPherson and Marvin Graves.

Call Paulus an "experiment" if you must, but the results are undeniable. He can win football games.

If Paulus continues to struggle when Akron comes to the Dome on Oct. 24, then Nassib should probably be given the job. However, coming off a bye week, Paulus' tired arm should be re-energized and the Orange should be primed to win their third game and keep the hopes for a bowl berth alive.

Give Paulus a chance to be successful. If he returns to the form we saw against Northwestern, Syracuse can win four more games and make the improbable run to .500 in Marrone's first season.

Immediate success will do eons more for this program than a few snaps for a quarterback who may or may not be the future of the team. There is no guarantee that Nassib will be the answer next season.

True freshman Charley Loeb will have had the same amount of time in Marrone's and offensive coordinator Rob Spence's system. Two promising recruits, Jonny Miller (Mullen HS, Denver, CO) and John Kinder (Lawrence SHS, Cedarhurst, NY), are also coming in at the position.

Orange fans need to back Marrone's decision, cheer on Paulus, and give him the chance to succeed.

He has exceeded almost everyone's expectations thus far, and can continue to do so. If he does, Syracuse will be on the track to reemerge as an Eastern football power much sooner then we could have hoped for.

Syracuse Orange Avoids Falling into Bear Trap

After three hard fought games to open the first season of the Doug Marrone era, Syracuse fans looked forward to a nice, easy game with the FCS University of Maine.

Unfortunately, nothing comes easy for the Orange.

The game's scoring opened with a short touchdown throw from quarterback Greg Paulus to Halfback Delone Carter, giving Syracuse a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. However, Maine would not back down, and the first Black Bear drive showed a much different team then was expected.

Maine is generally classified as a ground-oriented team, who on the back of Sophomore rusher Derek Session, controlled the clock and a game's momentum. This would seemingly play right into Syracuse's defensive strength, which is in the run game. Syracuse has had great success against the rush, allowing only 83 yards per game, good for 13th best in the nation.

However, when Maine Quarterback Warren Smith took the ball after Syracuse's scoring drive, the offense looked much, much different.

Much like Northwestern did to great success the week before in the Carrier Dome, Smith picked apart the Orange secondary on short, quick passes- going 24-35 for 305 yards, and 3 TDs on the day. The Bears offense would respond to Carter's touchdown with a field goal, and then after a surprising onside kick recovery, Smith hit wide receiver Landis Williams for a 56-yard touchdown to give Maine a 10-7 lead.

Syracuse was able to tie the game at 10 with a field goal by freshman Ryan Lichtenstein, but after stopping the Orange following an interception by cornerback Kevyn Scott, Smith drove down the field against the Syracuse defense to find Williams again for a 14-yard score.

Syracuse was able to manage another Lichtenstein field goal to cut the Maine lead to 17-13 at the half, but all 35,000 fans in the Dome were shocked. This was not the team they had grown to love over the last few weeks, this looked shockingly like the Syracuse team that was used to losing over the last four years.

The second half was much kinder to the Orange, who made the necessary adjustments to stop Maine's sharp offense, while continuing to find success with the ball.

With their first possession of the half, Syracuse was able to drive the ball 86 yards down the field, capped off by a nine yard touchdown run for Carter, who finished with 95 total yards (72 rushing, 23 receiving) and four total touchdowns. Syracuse was back on top, 20-17.

On their next drive, the Orange worked with a shorter field, and Greg Paulus connected with Sophomore Marcus Sales in the corner of the endzone for 17 yards and a score, extending the Orange lead to 10. Paulus finished the game with another impressive stat line, completing 21 of 28 passes, for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The defense helped keep the ball rolling as well. After dropping a near-interception earlier in the game, junior linebacker Doug Hogue picked off an errant Smith pass and returned it 30 yards to the Maine 10-yard line, allowing Carter to barrel into the endzone from five yards out for another score.

The scoring pace slowed during the fourth quarter, with Syracuse and Maine trading touchdowns late in the game, securing a 41-24 Syracuse win.

The Orange have a very tough obstacle ahead of them, with the USF Bulls coming to the Dome off of a big upset of Florida State over the weekend.

Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo.

It seems like recently, we have to have some sort of controversy here in Orange-land.  It wasn't more than a few days after Jonny's decision to declare for the NBA draft that a new issue has come about, not about a player leaving, but of one possibly joining the fray.

That player, as you all know, is Greg Paulus.

Greg Paulus has been the (or, more recently, a) Point Guard at Duke for the last few years, a decision reached after much deliberation on whether he would play basketball or football.

Paulus, a graduate of Christian Brothers Academy here in the Syracuse area, was the #1 rated Quarterback coming out of High School, and was highly sought after by Notre Dame, among other big name schools.

Once it was determined that he would play basketball, and not football (a decision many have lauded as a grave mistake), many assumed that he would be a Syracuse lean- a local kid staying in the area to play for the great Jim Boeheim.  However, legend has it that when informed that his son would backup incumbant Syracuse icon Gerry McNamara, Mr. Paulus said that his son "wouldn't backup anyone" and that his son "can do better than Syracuse".  He then went down to Duke, and we all know about the last four years, the last of which he was benched during the season and received far fewer minutes in Coach Krzyzewski's rotation.  

Obviously, we are now four years past this, and we are looking at a completely different sport- football, with a brand new coach, and a less than stellar Quarterback situation (I like Nassib, but I don't think he'll be any kind of star this year).

I present to you- the Greg Paulus debacle:

The Good:

Paulus was obviously a highly touted, local Quarterback prospect, far ahead of Nassib, Dantley, A-Rob, Charlie Loeb, or anyone else who will be on the roster come fall.

He has apparently been throwing with his brother over at UNC (I'm sure he receives a standing ovation every time he steps on that campus), and Packers scouts have said that his arm strength looks great for someone who hasn't played in four years.

He is getting looks from other big name programs, namely Michigan (though they deny everything) and Nebraska.

He would put us on ESPN every week, just because of who he is.  We would get Gameday coverage every Saturday, and that can only help a rebuilding program.

He would not cost us a scholarship for more than one year, and we have plenty to give due to the attrition we've seen this spring.  Taking a flyer on him wouldn't really cost us anything.

Boost in attendance?

He has a relationship with other CBA players on the team, notably Lavar Lobdell, his favorite target in High School.

He fits Marrone's system.

It would give Nassib/Loeb/Whoever another year to develop.

The Bad:

I have a few major gripes with bringing in Paulus (aside from the aforementioned history we have with him and the rest of the Paulus clan).  

It's been stated that Paulus wants a starting job- oviously.  However, he cannot just show up on the Hill and expect to have this handed to him.  He will have to outplay the other Quarterbacks, and he will have to earn the job.  We can't put a player out there just because of his name or what he was in High School.  Right now we have two players on the roster (one who is playing TE) who have started entire years as Quarterback of this University, and another who is the heir apparent to the job after a surprising Spring.   I have no reason to believe that Paulus is a bad kid or anything, but if he comes here expecting to start, and doesn't win the job (Marrone isn't handing starter spots to anyone on this roster), we don't need to hear more badmouthing about the University.  If he wants to come play football for us, he's going to be one of the guys on the field and the lockerroom.  The media can hype it all he wants, but Paulus has to be a sterling teammate.  Again, he never had any problems at Duke, and I've been told he's a good kid, so I'm not too concerned here.

My bigger concern is that he hasn't played the position in four years.  Quarterback is probably the most cerebrally demanding position in all of sports.  People have doubts when a Quarterback changes systems- Paulus is attempting to take not only his first college snap, but his first competitve snap of any kind in four years.  He has had not studied film, read a defense, or anything else that goes into the mental part of a Quarterback's game in four years.  Even True Freshman were just playing football the fall before, albeit at a lower level, but they have been in the swing of things at the very least.  Paulus hasn't, he's been on the hardwood playing a game that couldn't be any more different from football.  The arm may be there, but mentally there is no way he is ready for Minnesota, Penn State, UConn, Rutgers, West Virginia, and the other teams we play- and even if he showed up tomorrow I'm not entirely convinced he could pull that off.  Nothing against Paulus, but he would be doing something I can't recall anyone else doing after that long of a break from the sport.  

The Ugly:

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.  Who knows how much longer we can use those great Photoshops?

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On another Orange note, congrats to Katie Rowan, Christina Dove, and the rest of the Syracuse Woman's Lacrosse team on their (shared) Big East Championship, with an excellent 12-3 (6-1) record.  

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Thanks for reading...it is now 4:17, and Georgetown still sucks!