No. 21 Penn St. atop division
STATE COLLEGE — A preseason hit still has Joe Paterno sore, while the Penn State quarterback job apparently remains open even after a solid outing last week from Matt McGloin.
Yet through all the drama, the 21st-ranked Nittany Lions (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten) find themselves in an enviable position two months into the season: alone in first place in the Leaders Division heading into Saturday’s game against Illinois.
“It’s been tough. It’s a pain in the neck, let me put it that way,” Paterno said Tuesday at Beaver Stadium about rebounding from his injuries. “But what are you going to do, you know? I don’t think it’s affected the chance for the football team to get better because of the (coaching) staff.”
These are the times when 159 years’ worth of experience among the Penn State assistants might be especially beneficial. The 84-year-old Paterno injured his right shoulder and pelvis after 155-pound receiver Devon Smith accidentally leveled him in practice Aug. 7.
He was back to nearly 100 percent when a near-miss on the sideline Oct. 8 in the 13-3 win over Iowa left him sore again, including his right leg. He’s been hesitant about being downstairs ever since, worried that he might be a distraction.
At practice, Paterno tries to do as much coaching as he can on his feet, but he gets achy after a while and spends about the last half-hour or so of the two-hour session monitoring from a golf cart.
“I’ve turned over things to the staff at times where I used to get in there and mix it up with the kids a little bit, which I hope I’ll get back to,” Paterno said. “It’s a little different environment than I like. But ... I think that staff has adjusted well. I think the kids have, too.”
