Greg Paulus didn’t necessarily have a plan when he eluded the Minnesota rush and started scrambling to his left like a madman. He had never needed one before. In high school, these broken plays seemed to have a way of working in his favor. All Paulus knew was a touchdown pass could have led Syracuse to an overtime win in Doug Marrone’s first game as head coach, and it was his duty to make it happen.

But football wasn’t necessarily as simple as he remembered from nearly five years ago when he was a superstar at nearby Christian Brothers Academy. Four seasons as Duke’s point guard made Paulus momentarily forget how quick defenses can be and rendered him blind to linebackers quietly lurking in the background.

So instead of a storybook ending on a day created for overwhelming optimism, Paulus learned a vital lesson in the ways of a collegiate quarterback. The throw was to no one.

Nate Triplett intercepted a directionless ball fluttering through air like a wounded duck. Visions of Paulus carried off the Carrier Dome field as a hero suddenly vanished.

Paulus’ crushing interception was the key play in Syracuse’s heartbreaking 23-20 loss to Minnesota at Saturday afternoon before 48,617 fans – the largest Dome crowd since 2000. Eric Ellestad booted a game-winning 35-yard field goal four plays later, erasing a 20-14 halftime deficit and spoiling what seemed destined to be an all-too perfect start to Marrone’s tenure.

‘I shouldn’t make that throw. I shouldn’t make that mistake,’ Paulus said. ‘I’m going to be kicking myself for a little bit thinking about that one.’

In his first organized football game since high school, Paulus went 19-of-31 for 167 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown strike to Mike Williams. For more than four quarters, he played mostly mistake-free and managed the offense like a seasoned veteran. Unfortunately for him and the Orange (0-1), one glaring error at the worst possible time was all it took.

‘I’ll still rely on Greg Paulus to make the right decision,’ Marrone said. ‘He’s our quarterback. If I had to have him run out there and make a play again, I’d still have Greg Paulus out there running it.’

The play was called as a fade to Williams in the right corner, but Minnesota immediately sent double-coverage. So Paulus looked elsewhere and began running wildly to the left.

When Paulus scanned the end zone, he saw a few blue uniforms vying for position in the end zone. None of them were particularly free, but ‘two or three were drifting in the vicinity,’ he said. That meant there was a chance if he could squeeze the perfect throw through the jungle of Golden Gopher (1-0) defenders.

If Paulus had taken a sack or thrown the ball out-of-bounds, Syracuse would have set up for a field goal, putting the pressure on Minnesota. Instead, he tried to force an errant pass with disastrous results.

‘First read, I think I came off too quick,’ Paulus said. ‘Then I tried to make a play. Sometimes it worked today, sometimes it didn’t. On that one, I should have just thrown the ball in the back of the end zone and kicked the field goal.’

That gunslinging mentality worked well for more than four quarters. Afterward Williams praised Paulus and said there was no evidence he hadn’t played football in so long. Paulus methodically managed the game with a barrage of short passes and screens, helping the Orange overcome an early 14-3 deficit and go into halftime with a 20-14 lead.

SU spotted Minnesota seven points in the game’s first 40 seconds, when center Jim McKenzie snapped the ball well over Paulus’ head on the first play from scrimmage, resulting in a turnover deep in SU’s own territory. Paulus blamed himself for failing to communicate with the offense, while Marrone said the miscommunication was his fault and declined to elaborate further.

Though the Orange regained its composure, things fell apart in the second half. Syracuse’s offense lost steam and was unable to maintain the momentum. SU managed just 67 total yards and zero points after halftime, allowing Minnesota to slowly fight back. Between dropped passes, penalties and broken plays, SU was unable to deliver the knockout blow. All told, Syracuse went 1-of-12 on third down conversions and 0-of-6 in the second half and overtime.

‘When you get tight games that are going back and forth, you’re just sitting there waiting for someone to make a play,’ Marrone said. ‘I kept begging, ‘Guys, we need someone to step up and make a play.”

Nobody ever did. At the end of regulation, Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber crafted an impressive 14-play, 79-yard drive ending with a game-tying field goal by Ellestad. It was the first time all game Minnesota made significant process against a much-maligned Syracuse defense that exceeded expectations in game No. 1.

After four dismal seasons under former coach Greg Robinson, the Marrone-led Orange showed flashes of improvement and played with a strong Big Ten opponent for more than 60 minutes.

But the result was the same. In his postgame press conference, Marrone blamed himself for not winning in his coaching debut. Whatever the reason, it was a second-half meltdown that became a staple of Robinson’s years at the helm, ruining what was supposed to be an opportunity to celebrate a new chapter in the program’s history.

Amid the fanfare and the hype, Saturday turned out to be the same old story.

‘We were one play away from winning,’ Williams said. ‘Minnesota went out and they played a good game. They beat us, and that’s all I can say. We just have to go out there and win a game. From the beginning, we said that was the key to the season, and that’s what we have to do.’

jediamon@syr.edu

 

Published on September 7, 2009 at 12:00 pm