SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Doug Marrone was glad to have a bye week to try to forget about the Orange's two-game losing streak.
Nice try.
"If we continue to play the way we're playing, every team is dangerous," Marrone said Monday as he turned his focus to Saturday's game against Akron (1-5). "I want to make sure we get on track. I want to make sure our football team understands that we have to concentrate on what we do and how we execute."
Marrone, halfway through his rookie season as head coach, said he separates the season into quarters to gauge where the team is in relation to preseason goals.
"We've already had the first quarter and second quarter. We're not where we want to be," Marrone said. "We're going into the third quarter, this is where we need to be to reach our goals. We talk to the team about that quite a bit. I like to make sure everyone understands exactly where we're going. We all know what we need to get to become bowl-eligible without saying it."
The Orange (2-4, 0-2 Big East) are heading in the wrong direction for that. After a solid 2-2 start that easily could have been better, they have plummeted to the Big East basement, tied with Louisville and Rutgers after consecutive home losses to South Florida and West Virginia. The Bulls forced seven turnovers in their 34-20 victory.
"We keep shooting ourselves in the foot, and we have to get over things," Marrone said. "And we have to know if something negative comes out in the game, we have to be strong enough mentally to be able to come back."
In Syracuse's 34-13 home loss to West Virginia nine days ago, just about everything went wrong, most glaringly the performance of quarterback Greg Paulus. He sat the second half after going 5 for 9 for 30 yards with one interception.
Marrone affirmed after the game that Paulus would remain the starter and has not changed his mind. Marrone said the week off allowed the former Duke point guard to work more on fundamentals instead of trying to master the playbook. Paulus threw six interceptions in the past two games - two were by defensive linemen - but still has a completion average of 63.9 percent, tops in school history for a single season.
"I've tried to tell Greg, he's such a competitor, just let things happen and not try to force anything," Marrone said. "We've gotten ourselves in trouble at times trying to force some things. Sometimes, you put yourself in a position as an athlete where you force things that just aren't there. But we're excited. He's growing every day."
Marrone said he was pleased that backup quarterback Ryan Nassib gained some experience in playing the second half against the Mountaineers. Nassib, a sophomore, threw for two touchdowns, the first of his career.
"We're happy where we are," Marrone said. "We just want to make sure that next year we have someone that has some type of playing experience."
NOTES: Ryan Bartholomew will start at center against Akron in place of injured Jim McKenzie. Tight end Cody Catalina is healthy again and will play. ... Senior wideout Mike Williams ranks sixth nationally with 118 receiving yards per game and is tied for seventh with 7.5 receptions per game.
