Drew Allen and Greg Paulus are similar, but different. Both were first-year starting quarterbacks for first-year Syracuse head coaches. Both transfers.

Though by appearance they are quite different — one a 6-foot-5 Texan, the other a 6-foot-1 former all-conference point guard — Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer said he views them in similar lights.

“You kind of look at it as he’s an older freshman in your system,” Shafer said on the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches teleconference Wednesday.

Shafer’s comparison served as an asterisk for his assessment of Allen. He said that coming into training camp, he had to look at Allen not as a senior, but as someone almost entirely new to the playbook.

Even Allen’s 16-for-37, 189-yard, two-interception stat line in the Orange’s 23-17 loss to Penn State on Saturday had to be absorbed with the understanding that it was his first start in five years, Shafer said.

“The thing I was most pleased with was that he never really was flustered on the sideline,” Shafer said. “I thought he had good control and command. He kept working toward making the next play go.  We had a few dropped balls, a couple missed routes from the supporting cast, but liked the way he worked positively through those situations.”

It wasn’t quite as sharp as Paulus’ SU debut in which he went 19-for-31 for 167 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interception in an overtime loss to Minnesota, but Paulus finished his 2009 gridiron experiment with more interceptions (14) than touchdowns (13) in his first year playing football since high school.

Allen was good enough to earn a scholarship from Oklahoma, where he backed up two of the best college quarterbacks in recent memory in Landry Jones and Sam Bradford.

Now he has a chance to redeem himself after a shaky debut with a road game against No. 19 Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him get his second start this week,” Shafer said.

H-backs roles to expand against Northwestern

Ashton Broyld and Brisly Estime are X-factors for the Orange. They play an undefined position that lines up all over the offensive side of the ball designed to provide equal parts versatility and unpredictability.

But Saturday against Penn State, Broyld, a sophomore, lined up exclusively in the slot. Only once did he run anywhere but forward — taking a pitch from Allen for a 3-yard gain on SU’s first drive.

Estime, a freshman, only saw the field for one play. He dropped a swing pass coming out of the backfield.

“(Estime) kind of wanted to take Football 101, pass it, get an ‘A’ in the class and move forward to Football 201,” Shafer said. “And that’s kind of where I see Ashton.”

Shafer said both of their roles will expand gradually this season. Broyld, who played in the backfield for the Orange regularly last year, said Tuesday he misses playing running back.

Both Shafer and Broyld did agree that the consistent reps he’s getting in the slot have been beneficial. While Shafer said on Saturday that Broyld did misread some routes, he was Allen’s most targeted receiver and finished with a team-high four catches for 46 yards.

Regarding Estime, Shafer said he’ll slowly be integrated into the offense.

“Gradual process means a little bit more and I think he’s ready for that,” Shafer said.

Tough Big Ten start provides pros, cons for Orange

Most Division-I teams warm up for the season with cupcakes in the early weeks. Syracuse, however, elected for tougher slate starters in a pair of favored Big Ten teams: Penn State and Northwestern.

“A lot of teams in the country will start off with some warm-up games and there’s benefits to that,” Shafer said, “but on the flip side a lot of us are starting off against foes that are pretty doggone good. And that’s what our schedule says.”

So far, it hasn’t worked well for SU. The Nittany Lions beat the Orange on Saturday and the Wildcats looked impressive in a 44-30 victory against California.

Said Shafer: “You can’t really have 20-20 hindsight when you’re doing all the scheduling.”

Published on September 4, 2013 at 12:42 pm

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