Joe Paterno says we should not feel sorry for him, and his wish is hereby granted.
Even if the Penn State Nittany Lions demolish the Oregon Rubber Duckies 52-0 in the Rose Bowl and still don’t wind up as college football’s No. 1 team, that’s tough. But that’s also life in the Big 11. Save your cards and letters for more needy causes.
A man of vision despite 67-year-old eyes, Paterno maintains that Penn State’s recent move to the conference is “spectacular” for the university. The legendary coach also reminds that in college athletics, as in real life, you can’t get something without giving up something, although scoundrels on campuses throughout America try every day.
Paterno’s reference, however, is to a legal business transaction consummated five years ago. Penn State exchanges its independence for membership in the Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust Lodge, a.k.a. Big 10. This maneuver gives Penn State a sense of belonging. Meanwhile, the conference accepts the Nittany Lions from the bottom line of its heart. Paterno’s annually successful program is slightly more appealing to the entertainment industry than, say, Hayden Fry’s tractor pull in Iowa, and TV networks pay accordingly.
Everybody is happy, including Paterno. Sizing up the competition, he decides he might work until he’s 75. He says he still loves what he does, and he probably even loves it more when he can replace Notre Dame on the schedule with Northwestern. Meanwhile, Paterno can operate as part of a big-league environment while maintaining headquarters in State College, Pa., a ZIP code for virtual seclusion.
But as we all know, the road to Pasadena passes through Illinois-usually, without any stop signs. However, on Saturday, the Nittany Lions put their irresistible offense-533.5 yards per game, best in the country-against the Fighting Illini’s immovable defense at Champaign. This is not a lock. Stranger things have happened during 1994, and already have.
A couple weeks ago, the Nittany Lions destroy Ohio State 63-14 but lose ground in the polls. Last week, the Nittany Lions beat Indiana 35-29, and again voters decide that the game is as close as the score indicates. Evidently, style points count, too. Penn State, though 8-0 against opponents rated more difficult than Nebraska’s, lands No. 2 with coaches, writers and Larry King.
“I don’t worry about such things,” says Paterno. There is a statute of limitations on his cheery mood, however, and that could expire shortly after the New Year. If Nebraska and Penn State stay undefeated, Paterno is accorded little chance of seizing a third national title. And it will all boil down to location, location, location.
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Nebraska has a tentative Orange Bowl assignment against the best athletes available. Penn State, as per its agreement with the Big 11, heads to the Rose Bowl against a survivor of the unfittest in the Pac-10, likely Oregon.
The Who’s No. 1? argument is terrific for college football and infinitely more worthy of our attention than the trumped-up local Bears’ quarterback “controversy.” Penn State has no problem there, for Kerry Collins will be the school’s only passer besides Todd Blackledge to be a first-round NFL draft choice in three decades. Still, Paterno has been touting a college football playoff for almost that long, and he’s not backing off now.
Publicity is nice, but it doesn’t buy equipment for field hockey. A college football championship game, or series of games, would not only produce results but revenue. Meanwhile, he toils in the Big 11, a conference that benefits from his presence but does not necessarily heed his advice.
Of course, if the Nittany Lions absolutely have to have a trip to Miami next January for the big game, why not send them to Super Bowl XXIX instead of the Buffalo Bills?