Football: Pitt gets a second look at Paulus, this time in a different sport

The last time Greg Paulus faced Pitt, Levance Fields knocked down a last-second 3-pointer to… The last time Greg Paulus faced Pitt, Levance Fields knocked down a last-second 3-pointer to defeat the Duke Blue Devils in overtime.

Two years later, Paulus faces the Panthers again — now as the quarterback of the Syracuse Orange.

The senior signal caller, who made the switch to football over the summer, looks to straighten out a rocky season when the Orange (3-5, 0-3 Big East) take on No. 13 Pitt (7-1, 4-0) at noon Saturday.

Paulus has 11 interceptions to 10 touchdowns this year, and backup Ryan Nassib has seen more playing time recently. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is prepared for both quarterbacks.

“They’ve been bringing Nassib in for certain situations,” Wannstedt said, adding that he often operates in the wildcat formation. “We could see Nassib a lot more. That would not surprise me.”

Pitt’s senior quarterback Bill Stull continues to quiet naysayers. Stull threw for more than 200 yards for the fifth time this season in the Panthers’ 41-14 victory against South Florida two weeks ago. He now sits third nationally in pass efficiency.

Entering the Syracuse matchup, Pitt comes off a bye week that, according to Wannstedt, allowed many injured Panthers time to heal.

“Unless something would happen in the next couple of days, we should be pretty much full-speed, ready to go,” Wannstedt said at his press conference Monday. He also noted that safety Elijah Fields, who has dealt with injuriesfor most of the past month, “is much improved” and will play this week.

Pitt’s defense has held up despite the injuries. The Panthers are second in the Big East in total defense, allowing 314.1 yards against per game. Pitt leads the country in sacks with 33.

“I bet you we only blitzed 10 times in the past five weeks,” he said. “A lot of those sacks are coverage sacks. If we can get two guys back there covering one [receiver], the quarterback is going to have to hold the ball.”

Despite its winless record in conference, the Orange have shut down the run, leading the Big East in rushing defense. Syracuse has a tough task this week, going up against Dion Lewis, who passed the 1,000 yard mark on the season in eight games. His 1,029 yards this year are fifth in the nation.

Offensively, the Orange is last in the conference in total offense. In addition to Paulus’ inconsistency, Syracuse will take on Pitt without leading receiver Mike Williams, who quit the team this week.

Still, Wannstedt said that records go out the window when Syracuse and Pitt play.

“If you took two teams in our conference and said, ‘What teams have the most tradition over the past 50-plus years?’ it would be Syracuse and Pitt,” Wannstedt said. “Our players know most of these guys. We’ve competed against them. Last year, we had to fight from behind to win the game up there.”

After Syracuse, Pitt concludes the season against three teams that have been nationally ranked this year — No. 22 Notre Dame, West Virginia and No. 5 Cincinnati. Despite this, Wannstedt said Syracuse will not be a trap game.

“We have a big conference game, and we need every ounce of focus and energy for this week,” he said. “Then we’ll just take the next one and continue that.”

Syracuse comes off a 28-7 loss against Cincinnati last week. Running back Andrew Bailey rushed for 34 yards and caught 39 more, and Wannstedt said to watch for him and his partner in the backfield, Delone Carter, this weekend.

“Bailey is more of a receiver,” Wannstedt said. “They’ll put him out in some empty sets as a wide receiver. Carter is probably a little stronger, more of a true running back. Both are very talented.”

Pitt ranks 13th in the BCS poll this week, the highest-ranking in school history, but Wannstedt won’t let the ranking, and the possibility of a BCS bowl game, go to the players’ heads against the Orange.

“We’ve got to go out there and approach it the same way that we have every other week,” Wannstedt said. “Take it one day at a time. Keep our focus on the job at hand and go from there.”