Paterno

STATE COLLEGE — Their bodies were sore and their egos were bruised after an embarrassing loss to No. 1 Ohio State, but at least the Penn State Nittany Lions got to sleep in after a home game for the first time this season.

Coach Joe Paterno believes his squad has learned enough of a lesson off the field that the Nittany Lions no longer have stadium cleanup duty.

An angry JoePa over the summer ordered the entire team to pick up trash in the student section on Sunday mornings at Beaver Stadium after several players were implicated in an off-campus fight in April.

That chore apparently ended after the fifth home game of the year, the Oct. 13 win over Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) were back to their regular Sunday routines this week after the 37-17 loss to the Buckeyes.

"I didn't do that necessarily to punish them. I did that because I felt they ought to have some idea that as a team there's got to be somebody saying, 'Hey, no, we don't want to do that,"' Paterno said Tuesday. "I really wanted them to appreciate the fact that they have the best of all worlds. They've got a free education, people who know who they are."

On the field, the education process continues after Saturday's 20-point loss — Penn State's worst defeat at home since getting shut out 20-0 by Michigan six years ago.

The defense took a pounding against the Buckeyes after allowing season-highs in points and yardage (453). The Nittany Lions allowed three passing touchdowns for the second straight week, casting doubt on a secondary thought to be one of the best in the country at the start of the season.

Paterno defended his players, and directed much of the blame on the coaching staff.

JoePa added that he thought Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel and his staff out-coached Penn State before retreating a bit. "They didn't outcoach us," Paterno said immediately afterward. "But they did a couple things really well."

He's been pleased so far with practice for this weekend's home finale against Purdue (7-2, 3-2). On Monday, Paterno didn't say a word to the team, but watched his players closely and liked how they responded. Besides regaining their swagger, the team is also getting an emotional lift preparing for Senior Day.

Senior linebacker Dan Connor, who is five tackles shy of breaking Paul Posluszny's school career tackles record (372), is determined to get the Nittany Lions to a nice bowl. A BCS bowl is out of the picture, though a New Year's Day game like the Outback Bowl may still be in the cards, especially if Penn State wins its last three regular-season games.

"That's kind of the focus of the team now," Connor said. "We're not going to get a shot at the national championship, but at the same time we can make something out of this season."