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University of Minnesota Athletics
Blog: Opposing Viewpoint - Syracuse
9/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Each week during the 2009 football season, GopherSports.com will bring you the viewpoint of a member of the media who covers Minnesota’s opponent for that week.
This week, we talk to David Rahme, who covers Syracuse University sports for the Syracuse Post-Standard.
GopherSports.com: Coming off a sub-par season and heading into 2009 with a new coach, what’s the feeling of the Syracuse program heading into the opener against Minnesota?
David Rahme: Actually, Syracuse is coming off the worst four-year stretch in school history, a 10-37 debacle that resulted in the dismissal of Greg Robinson at the end of a 3-9 2008 season. The feeling about the team under Doug Marrone, a former SU offensive tackle and longtime college and NFL assistant, is one of great enthusiasm and optimism that AD Daryl Gross got it right the second time around.
Marrone played under Dick MacPherson when SU was about to enter one of its golden ages of football (15 consecutive winning seasons and nine bowl games under Mac and Paul Pasqualoni), and he has vowed to return the team to those heights.
That noted, there is no question that the project will take time. Marrone has a huge challenge facing him, much of it beyond the on-field performance, which has been the worst I’ve seen in 30-plus years of being around the game as a player, fan and journalist. Some 18 scholarship players left since Marrone arrived, many because they didn’t connect with his no-nonsense, physical approach to football. Depth is an issue, not to mention the transition of a whole new system of offense and defense and a 180-degree change in culture. The optimism is tempered by the reality that the gap is currently very wide and will take time to close.
GopherSports.com: What do you think the Gophers can expect to see out of Greg Paulus at quarterback for the Orange on Sept. 5?
David Rahme: That question is pertinent not just to Minnesota but to all of us. Practice was closed, so we didn’t get to see Paulus at all save for one "Fanfest" scrimmage, and that was vanilla with a capital V. Obviously, he was a superstar in high school who could have gone to Notre Dame on a football scholarship. He is a very cerebral young man who has played on a huge stage in another sport. He thus won’t succumb to the usual butterflies associated with a new starter.
That noted, he has not played football in four years and has never faced a Division I defense. There has to be some kind of learning curve. Physically, he looks like Drew Brees, a quarterback Marrone is familiar with from his days in New Orleans. I’m not sure how Brees was as a college rookie (I saw him destroy Syracuse 51-0 with Purdue in 2004 and set the stage for Pasqualoni’s ouster), but even though he is much more mature than your average rookie, Paulus is still just that when it comes to football. My feeling is he will not embarrass himself but will only be as effective as his offensive line, which has been dreadful over the last four years.
GopherSports.com: Outside of Greg Paulus, what or who is the biggest story at Syracuse right now and why?
David Rahme: Marrone is the biggest story by far, but in terms of players it would be senior nose tackle Arthur Jones, a first-team all-conference player and an Outland Trophy candidate. He is the best player on the team. Arthur decided to forego entry into the NFL draft to help Marrone turn around the team and promptly suffered a torn pectoral muscle lifting weights and required surgery. He missed spring ball but enjoyed a full recovery and was not limited at all in preseason camp. Notre Dame tried to single block him last season, and he almost single-handedly led SU to a 24-23 upset. He is the real deal.
GopherSports.com: What does Syracuse need to do to win this game?
David Rahme: Here is the situation SU faces entering the season. Its offense has failed to average 300 yards a game over the last four years. It has never been better than No. 101 in the nation over that stretch. Its defense plummeted to the same level over the last four seasons.
Now, it is transitioning to whole new systems on both sides of the ball with a first-time head coach. It is a recipe for turnovers, penalties, miscommunication, etc. I’m sure Minnesota fans know exactly what I’m talking about. Somehow, SU must avoid all those pitfalls to have a shot. It must win the turnover battle, stay away from sudden-change situations on defense and special teams and win the battle up front. In other words, all the standard stuff that usually determines the outcome of a game in this age of parity.
GopherSports.com: What does Minnesota need to do to win this game?
David Rahme: See above. It has the added pressure of being on the road, and it needs to score quickly and establish its superiority to take the crowd out of the game and put the Orange in a "here we go again" frame of mind. If it gives SU confidence early, it could be in for a long day. Again, the key will be turnovers, penalties and big plays.
GopherSports.com: What are your thoughts about Minnesota? What have you seen and heard about the program?
David Rahme: I remember an SU team with Donovan McNabb at quarterback going into Minnesota and piling up all kinds of yards, but committing five turnovers and getting upset. I know Mitch Browning, who coached there with Glen Mason and was SU’s OC last season. He is a good man and a good coach. I remember the Gophers having some great running backs during the Mason era.
For a while I thought Minnesota made a mistake when it hired an NFL assistant to come in and coach the college game, much as SU did with Robinson. Last season ended that perception. Most of all, I see the commitment the school has made to the team in regards to the new stadium and unbelievable locker room and facilities and I think last season was no mirage, even though it ended on a sour note. I think the team is poised to be a Big Ten player now on a consistent basis. That conference is so loaded and has so much parity it may not always be reflected in a team’s won-loss record, but I think Minnesota has definitely joined the party for keeps.
GopherSports.com: Syracuse opens against three straight Big Ten teams. Is the Orange lobbying for inclusion in the Big Ten? Or at least to be listed in the Big Ten standings for a few weeks?
David Rahme: Syracuse stands on common ground with exactly one Big Ten team – Northwestern. As a small, private university it has nothing in common with the other members. Can it compete in the Big Ten? Based on the last four years, no, although it did defeat Illinois on the road in that span. Historically, though, I believe it could, just as Northwestern now does.
That noted, I believe SU belongs in an eastern football conference with Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Boston College, Rutgers, Connecticut and maybe Penn State, Maryland, Army and Navy. The politics of the sport being what they are, that will never happen. Yet, I’m an old dreamer who as a kid watched Pitt and Penn State battle on Thanksgiving weekend. I remember those days with great fondness and yearn for their return. An old man can dream, can’t he?
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