Pitarresi: Yes, Paulus can sell tickets

There are people who still think Syracuse University football coach Doug Marrone is starting Greg Paulus at quarterback to sell tickets.

 

As I’ve written before, that’s just nuts. Marrone wants to win football games, and that is why Paulus is his starter.

 

However, that doesn’t mean that Paulus’ startus as a starter hasn't sold tickets for SU. Associate athletics director Scott Sidwell said there definitely was a spike in season ticket and single game sales when it was announced two weeks ago that Paulus, a former Syracuse CBA star who hasn’t played football since 2004, would be the starter.

 

As of noon, today SU had sold 36,317 tickets for Saturday’s opener at against Minnesota. Sidwell still is hoping for a sellout – the nominal capacity is 49,262 – but whether or not there is one, it appears that a very nice crowd of 40,000 is likely and a 45,000—plus is a possibility. SU topped 45,000 in attendance just once in the last five seasons, against Penn State (45,795) last year.

 

Part of the surge is a new beginning under Marrone, and part of it, yes, is because of Greg Paulus. That’s a good thing.