SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -Two days after his first game as a college head coach ended in a gut-wrenching defeat, Syracuse’s Doug Marrone remained effusive in praise of both his players and the roaring Orange fans.
“I didn’t know how many people would show up to the game. That’s one of the things I couldn’t control,” Marrone said Monday, less than 48 hours after Syracuse had lost its opener 23-20 in overtime to Minnesota inside a sweltering and raucous Carrier Dome.
“It was a tremendous job by everybody involved. I think that’s important, and it’s (something) we look forward to throughout my career here. It’s one of the most important things, and I just hope it never goes unnoticed.”
After four years of forgettable football under former head coach Greg Robinson (his teams won just 10 of 47 games), Marrone really was in a no-lose situation – at least for one game.
d a large crowd for the opener. After all, Robinson’s first home game in 2005 was against West Virginia and attracted 45,418. It’s just that nobody quite expected a turnout of 48,617, the fourth largest crowd for an opener since the Carrier Dome opened in 1980.
“My goal was to make sure that we can put a product out there that people can appreciate and support in this community,” said Marrone, who now has to prepare to go on the road to No. 9 Penn State on Saturday. “There were times out there I thought we did that, and there were times where I think we failed them.”
Paulus, who starred in high school at Christian Brothers Academy just down the road from Marrone’s new office, acquitted himself well in his first competitive football game since he was national high school player of the year in 2004. He was 19 for 31 for 167 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
Paulus’ lone turnover, an ill-advised pass on third down heaved into three defenders in the end zone, came after a scramble on the first series of overtime and allowed the Gophers to escape. Paulus’ longest completion was a 29-yard scoring pass to Mike Williams late in the first quarter.
“Greg has been the quarterback for a week, and we had to get him ready,” Marrone said. “We really didn’t know exactly what they (Minnesota) were going to do. We wanted to make sure that we were able to manage the game, get rid of the football.”
Since Marrone took over as coach, 19 scholarship players have quit the team. That made both depth and experience big concerns. Nine freshmen, eight sophomores, two juniors and one graduate student (Paulus) debuted in the first half against the Gophers.
“When you look at the defensive side of the ball, you’re talking about some young players that have gotten in,” Marrone said. “I really did love the effort. They played hard, but don’t ever confuse that with results. We let things get away.”
Minnesota trailed 20-14 at halftime, made some defensive adjustments, then took advantage when the Orange defenders went into prevent mode. Syracuse was victimized repeatedly by quarterback Adam Weber on a drive that ended with the field goal in the final minute of the fourth quarter to force the OT.
“We had the ability to win that game, and that’s something I’m always going to look back and kick myself in the butt,” Marrone said. “It’s my responsibility to get us to win games like that, put us over the top. That game hurts. It hurts.”
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