Last year marked the beginning of a new era for Syracuse football. Optimism reigned. In came an SU alma mater, Doug Marrone. In came homegrown hero Greg Paulus, returning to the football field after four years of playing point guard at Duke. And in came the hype, resulting in 48,167 fans at the Carrier Dome for the Orange’s first game against Minnesota.

Students were greeted at that game with orange T-shirts that read ‘IT STARTS NOW’ in big, black lettering across the back as anticipation and excitement filled the Dome. The enthusiasm, though, soon deflated with a bitter overtime loss to the Gophers.

 

That gave way to a 4-8 season, a marked improvement from the preceding Greg Robinson era — but for fans like longtime Syracuse resident Conor Webster, still a disappointment.

 

‘I thought because of Greg Paulus, we were going to have a good season,’ said Webster, a graduate of nearby Christian Brothers Academy, where Paulus went to high school. ‘I mean I love the guy, but he didn’t really do it for the team.’

 

One year later, the Orange once again is starting anew with sophomore Ryan Nassib at the quarterback spot and Marrone back for his second season. And Webster considers last year a mulligan for Marrone and company. He believes this season is the true opening for the revival of Syracuse football, and he plans to put that idea into a new T-shirt.

 

Just like the ones at the Dome last year, ‘IT STARTS NOW’ will be printed on the back. But Webster wants to tack on a small side note at the bottom. Beneath the ‘IT STARTS NOW,’ Webster will add ‘(FOR REAL THIS TIME),’ in hopes that 2010 will bring a new beginning for the Doug Marrone era.

 

Two People to Blame

 

The hype surrounding Paulus’ return to Syracuse soon turned into animosity. The low point came five games into the season, when South Florida came to the Dome. Seven SU turnovers, including five Paulus interceptions, pushed fans past their limit.

 

After that game, Paulus was the player Orange fans loved to hate. And those emotions boiled over one week after the loss to USF.

 

Every time Nassib stepped onto the field against West Virginia, the crowd greeted him with cheers and applause. And every time Paulus trotted back out to the huddle while Nassib returned to the sideline, boo’s echoed throughout the stadium.

 

‘Whenever you have a point guard playing your starting quarterback, it’s never a good thing,’ said freshman undecided major Zach Chase, who followed the Orange throughout last season. ‘He didn’t play football for four years, so that’s just not a good sign right there.’

 

This season, Chase and the rest of the Orange faithful will get their man at the quarterback spot. Nassib will take over the starting job, with sophomore Charley Loeb as his backup.

 

Webster said he can only hope Nassib is ready to step up, but he also doesn’t believe fans will turn on the sophomore in favor of Loeb like they did on Paulus. Because the expectations and hype aren’t surrounding Nassib, he said, the fans won’t be as disappointed with him if the team struggles.

 

But Chase sees it differently. In his eyes, blame gets placed on two people whenever fans aren’t happy.

 

‘Whenever a team struggles, fans start looking at two people on the team — the quarterback and the coach,’ he said. ‘Nassib could go through the same thing Paulus went through last year if we get off to a slow start.’

 

It Won’t Be Fun

 

Webster has bought season tickets to football games each of the past two years and plans on getting them again this year. He describes himself as a big Orange fan, but he didn’t make it to all the games in the Dome last year.

 

The reason for his absence is simple: ‘They weren’t any good.’

 

And this year, he doesn’t expect a whole lot more. He thinks Syracuse will be better, but still not very good.

 

Freshman television, radio and film major Jason Schafer feels the same way Webster does. He said he’s more of a basketball fan but still bought season tickets for football. He doesn’t expect more than three or four wins out of the Orange this season, and if things get ugly, those tickets may go to waste.

 

‘I’ll go to all the games but if the team isn’t good, I’ll probably miss some near the end of the year,’ he said. ‘It just won’t be fun if they’re getting whooped every game.’

 

A Basketball School?

 

Senior art education major Tiffany Gilberti won’t be going to any football games this year. She’s just getting her basketball season tickets and might watch some of the football on TV if her friends turn the games on.

 

In her mind, fewer and fewer people are paying attention to Syracuse football, she said, and more and more are talking about Orange basketball.

 

‘There’s just more people that go to basketball games,’ Gilberti said. ‘They’re just more fun to watch and people have a better time at those games.’

 

Schafer and Chase both said they were more excited about the upcoming basketball season than the football season. Schafer also said he is not missing a single home game on the hardwood, and his explanation is simple.

 

‘(The basketball team) is nasty,’ he said.

 

But for Webster, Syracuse is more than just a basketball school. The Syracuse native remembers the days of Donovan McNabb and major bowl games. He remembers sitting in a sold-out Carrier Dome for the Orange’s 66-13 thrashing of Miami (Fla.) in 1998.

 

He said the football program is just enduring a rough patch right now. And in his mind, the beginning of the revival starts now (for real this time).

 

‘I think we definitely still have a good football program,’ he said. ‘We’re just in a little slump. I think Marrone’s going to take us out of it. The next couple years, I think we’ll be bowl eligible. Not this year, but within the next few years.’

 

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on August 29, 2010 at 12:00 pm