The Daily OrangeCLUNKER: Scoreless 1st half dooms Syracuse in 34-13 loss to West Virginia
By Jared Diamond
Posted: 10/10/09, 3:31 PM EST Section: Sports
It took Doug Marrone all of 65 seconds to announce Greg Paulus is still Syracuse's starting quarterback. But even after 11 minutes of answering countless questions about the same subject, he still had no answer for why Paulus has looked lost the last two weeks.
One game after tossing five interceptions against South Florida, Paulus struggled again in the Orange's 34-13 blowout loss against West Virginia Saturday. He played just the first half, completing 5-of-9 passes for 30 yards and a brutal pick on the contest's opening drive. After the Mountaineers took a 27-0 lead into halftime, Marrone pulled Paulus and inserted backup Ryan Nassib, who went 7-for-16 for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Though Marrone may have temporarily contained the notion of a quarterback controversy, the underlying fact remains that Syracuse's offense has suddenly hit a wall. The Greg Paulus experiment, which began with so much promise, appears to be losing its luster.
And with its second straight setback, the team is faced with this unfortunate reality: Syracuse has lost its first two Big East contests and hits the midway point of the season - and its lone bye week - at a disappointing 2-4.
"I just didn't feel comfortable with the way Greg was responding to questions we were asking him on the sideline," said Marrone, SU's head coach. "I don't know what the right word is, but I told Greg that he's our quarterback and that he will start against Akron."
Though the game began with a glimmer of hope, any momentum the Orange would have all afternoon was lost with one errant pass early in the first quarter.
On a 3rd-and-2 from the WVU 30-yard line, Paulus rolled out to the right and looked for a receiver coming out of the backfield for a short first-down pass. When his first read was well-covered, he stopped, turned to his left and lofted a fluttering ball across his body, right into the awaiting hands of Mountaineers linebacker Pat Lazear.
Lazear fumbled on the runback, but the ball was recovered by nose tackle Josh Taylor and returned 53 yards all the way down to the SU 11. One play later, West Virginia quarterback Jarrett Brown hit running back Noel Devine for an 11-yard touchdown strike, and the Mountaineers were on their way.
One game after tossing five interceptions against South Florida, Paulus struggled again in the Orange's 34-13 blowout loss against West Virginia Saturday. He played just the first half, completing 5-of-9 passes for 30 yards and a brutal pick on the contest's opening drive. After the Mountaineers took a 27-0 lead into halftime, Marrone pulled Paulus and inserted backup Ryan Nassib, who went 7-for-16 for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Though Marrone may have temporarily contained the notion of a quarterback controversy, the underlying fact remains that Syracuse's offense has suddenly hit a wall. The Greg Paulus experiment, which began with so much promise, appears to be losing its luster.
And with its second straight setback, the team is faced with this unfortunate reality: Syracuse has lost its first two Big East contests and hits the midway point of the season - and its lone bye week - at a disappointing 2-4.
"I just didn't feel comfortable with the way Greg was responding to questions we were asking him on the sideline," said Marrone, SU's head coach. "I don't know what the right word is, but I told Greg that he's our quarterback and that he will start against Akron."
Though the game began with a glimmer of hope, any momentum the Orange would have all afternoon was lost with one errant pass early in the first quarter.
On a 3rd-and-2 from the WVU 30-yard line, Paulus rolled out to the right and looked for a receiver coming out of the backfield for a short first-down pass. When his first read was well-covered, he stopped, turned to his left and lofted a fluttering ball across his body, right into the awaiting hands of Mountaineers linebacker Pat Lazear.
Lazear fumbled on the runback, but the ball was recovered by nose tackle Josh Taylor and returned 53 yards all the way down to the SU 11. One play later, West Virginia quarterback Jarrett Brown hit running back Noel Devine for an 11-yard touchdown strike, and the Mountaineers were on their way.
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