Big Ten defenses must prepare for Paulus

Big Ten Blog

August, 18, 2009

Aug 18

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By Adam Rittenberg

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

Kevin Cosgrove, Tom Bradley and Mike Hankwitz might swap a few notes between now and Sept. 5.

The defensive coordinators at Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern all face the unique challenge of preparing to face a quarterback who hasn't thrown a meaningful pass in four years. Syracuse's announcement Monday night that former Duke basketball player Greg Paulus won the team's quarterback competition carries some interesting implications for the Big Ten.

Paulus will begin his college career against three Big Ten teams, opening against Minnesota at the Carrier Dome before traveling to Penn State and then hosting Northwestern.

It's not a total surprise Paulus claimed the top job at Syracuse, which struggled mightily on offense last year (114th nationally). Paulus, a tremendous high school quarterback at Christian Brothers Academy, didn't return home to Syracuse to sit on the bench and obviously retained some of the skill he had as a prep star.

There will undoubtedly be some rust when Paulus takes the field against real defenses, but he does pose an interesting scouting situation for his opponents.

Should Cosgrove, Bradley and Hankwitz find some old Christian Brothers tape, or would they be better off calling Roy Williams for advice on defending Paulus?

Tags:

Big Ten Conference, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Greg Paulus, Syracuse Orange, Northwestern Wildcats, Mike Hankwitz, Big Ten Conference, Tom Bradley, Roy Williams, Penn State Nittany Lions, Kevin Cosgrove

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