SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Doug Marrone sits in a rather unique situation — two players who keyed his first win as Syracuse’s head coach weren’t even on the team a year ago.

And the combination of quarterback Greg Paulus, a graduate student transfer from Duke, and wideout Mike Williams, a senior who was suspended due to academics in 2008, was a main reason most of the 40,251 fans in the Carrier Dome on Saturday night where still there when Ryan Lichtenstein kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired to beat Northwestern, 37-34.

Paulus scored on a 10-yard run and was 24 for 35 for 346 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. That was the sixth-best yardage total for one game in school history, more than the best outings of former SU greats Donovan McNabb and Don McPherson. Williams had 11 catches for 209 yards and two TDs, both career highs, to earn Big East offensive player of the week honors.

“I think it’s a credit to both those players and really their position coaches,” Marrone said Monday. “Mike’s an excellent athlete who can go out there and make plays all over the field. We’ve got to get the ball in his hands as much as we can. And Greg is unbelievable to me. He wasn’t with us all spring. He’s only been practicing since the start of the preseason.”

The former Duke point guard, a star quarterback in high school, has been a quick study since arriving on campus, and it showed against the previously unbeaten Wildcats. Although he lost one fumble and was sacked five times, Paulus displayed remarkable poise and knowledge in his third college game.

Paulus hit Williams with a 66-yard scoring pass late in the first quarter after a pretty fake handoff to Donte Davis, giving Syracuse a 17-0 lead. In the second, after a mixup in the backfield, Paulus was staring at two defensive linemen, quickly whirled and without even looking hit Delone Carter in the left flat for a 2-yard gain. And late in the third he kept a scoring drive alive, hitting Davis for a 14-yard gain after colliding in the backfield with freshman tailback Mike Jones.

“To go out there against a team that returned eight starters and throw for over 300 yards, it’s just incredible,” Marrone said. “I think after the season’s over we’ll look back and say, ‘Hey, what a tremendous job.’ And really, he’s getting better and better every week. I wish I had him for another year, I know that.”

Still, the Orange, who host Maine on Saturday, continue to have some weaknesses on offense. They converted just once in 12 tries on third down in the season-opener against Minnesota and were 2 for 12 against the Wildcats. That brought the season total to 8 for 37, or 21.62 percent, 114th in the nation. They also fumbled seven times against Northwestern, though only one resulted in a turnover.

“The thing that I have a concern about is our ball security,” Marrone said. “Our ball security needs to improve and we have to start with the way we’re carrying it. We have to put more of an emphasis on it. That’s a major, major concern right now.”

What doesn’t appear to be as much of a concern for the time being are the Orange’s notoriously unforgiving fans. Most were still riveted to their seats until the final gun on Saturday, and that hasn’t happened very often in recent years.

In 2004, Paul Pasqualoni’s final year as head coach, Syracuse led No. 8 Florida State 10-3 late in the third quarter, allowed two quick touchdowns, and then closed to 17-13 with 10 minutes left. But when Perry Patterson’s potential game-winning pass into the end zone was intercepted with 5 seconds left, the Carrier Dome resembled an empty teflon coffin because most of the faithful (40,539) were long gone, convinced their team had no chance.

“The people are excited about our program. I’m happy that we’re able to go out there and win a game,” Marrone said. “I’m happy for my wife from a personal standpoint. When someone asks what’s going on, she can answer.

“It’s satisfying because you keep preaching to the players all these situations that you keep working on constantly,” Marrone said. “Then to have a situation come up like this and be able to execute it and win a game gives you more support for what we work on in other situations, and the players believe in it. Every time you win, you learn something about yourself and become better. It’s always difficult to win, it’s harder and harder to lose. It’s harder to take.”

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