By JOHN KEKIS
AP Sports Writer

SYRACUSE, N.Y.(AP) -- Syracuse coach Doug Marrone said goodbye to
his star receiver and defended his starting quarterback Monday.

Mike Williams, the Big East's leading receiver, quit the team.
He had 49 catches for 746 yards and six touchdowns.

But at his weekly news conference, Marrone focused first on
quarterback Greg Paulus. The former Duke point guard returned
home to play football this season, but was booed Saturday during
a 28-7 loss to Cincinnati at the Carrier Dome.

"I've never seen an athlete at any level, including the NFL,
work as hard mentally and physically as Greg has worked since
he's joined us here," Marrone said. "Really, what he's
accomplished is extraordinary. Maybe he can't be fully
appreciated because most don't know just how difficult it is to
play quarterback at a Division I program."

Marrone said he felt Paulus was a victim of his own success.
Paulus, who's only here for this one remaining year of athletic
eligibility, nearly led Syracuse to an upset of Minnesota in the
season-opener at home. He threw for 167 yards and one touchdown,
but his lone turnover of the game, an interception in overtime,
allowed the Gophers to escape with a victory.

Two weeks later, Paulus scored on a 10-yard run and threw for
346 yards (the sixth-highest total in school history) and two
TDs in leading Syracuse to a comeback win over Northwestern. But
in Syracuse's first two Big East games, he threw six
interceptions and had another in the second quarter against the
Bearcats, in the end zone with the Orange trailing 14-7.

That prompted a cascade of boos from the fans, who cheered every
time backup Ryan Nassib was inserted.

Marrone said he wasn't aware of the negative reaction until he
was told about it long after the game had ended. He said he had
not yet discussed it with Paulus, though he tried to reach him
by phone.

"We've seen him make great plays and great decisions, and we
have come to expect that from him every time," Marrone said.
"But football is a team game. People don't know when an
offensive lineman misses a block or a receiver runs the wrong
route. They only see the decisions that Greg makes.

"I understand that (booing) is a part of sports, but Greg is one
of us. He grew up here. He came back to do something that's
never been done before and has poured every ounce of his body
and soul into that task."

Williams was Syracuse's most talented player. He has all the
physical traits coaches covet in a receiver - size (6-foot-2 and
210 pounds), speed, amazing leaping ability, sure hands.

Two years ago, Williams established a Syracuse record with
touchdown receptions in nine straight games, then was suspended
in June 2008 for violating the university's academic integrity
policy and missed all of last season.

Williams re-enrolled in January, returned to the team for spring
practice, and picked up where he left off. He caught a scoring
pass against Minnesota to extend his streak to 10 games before
being kept off the board at Penn State.

His 20 career TD catches ties Marvin Harrison for second at
Syracuse, two off Rob Moore's school record. Williams also was
named recently as one of 10 finalists for the Biletnikoff Award,
presented to the nation's top wide receiver.

Marrone said he had not yet made a formal announcement to the
team about Williams but suspected many players had already heard
the news.

"He walked up to me and voluntarily took himself off the team.
That's it," Marrone said, declining to elaborate. "I'm not going
to discuss the conversation from my end."

In an interview last month, Williams, a senior, said he fully
expected to return for his final year of eligibility in 2010.

"I'm really looking forward to coming back," Williams said. "I'm
not even going through that process right now of thinking about
leaving (for the NFL). It'll be good for me because I sat out a
year. All the problems I went through and stuff when I sat out,
I feel like I really have to come back."