Big Ten Football: Penn State Tops the Leaders Division but Has Big Problems

Joe Paterno is in his 62nd year on the Penn State coaching staff, his 44th year as Head Coach.

His team is currently 8-1, with their lone loss coming to Alabama in the first game of the season.  They are 5-0 in the Big Ten and sit atop the Leaders Division, seeking a spot in the first ever Big Ten Championship game.

The Nittany Lions have a difficult task if they want to finish out the season undefeated, however.  They entertain Big Ten newcomer Nebraska on November 12 and finish up with road games at resurgent Ohio State and offensive-minded Wisconsin.  Both are very difficult stadiums for visiting teams to garner wins.

On a more personal level, JoePa is dealing with the arrest of former player and long-time defensive coordinator at Penn State, Jerry Sandusky, on 40 counts of sexual crimes against young boys.  In addition, it has been revealed that Penn State Athletic Director, Tim Curley, and Senior VP of Finance and Business at Penn State, Gary Schultz, were informed of Sandusky’s indiscretions and did not report them to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.  It is a scandal of tremendous proportions, that will certainly put a large dark stain on Paterno’s otherwise long and storied career.

Jerry Sandusky played at Penn State from 1963-65 and joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 1966.  He accepted coaching positions at other schools in 1967 and 1968 but returned to State College in 1969 and remained on the Penn State coaching staff until his retirement in 1999.  In the last 22 years of his coaching career, Sandusky was the Defensive Coordinator under Paterno and was responsible for one of the finest defensive units year after year in college football.

It is truly unfortunate that Paterno’s legacy will be tarnished by his long association with Jerry Sandusky.  To this point, Paterno had been comprised of the stuff legends are made of, running a successful football program free of any wrongdoing or impropriety for over 40 years.

The Nittany Lions must ignore the media storm surrounding the football program and focus on the task at hand for the next three weeks, winning a Big Ten Championship. 

However, that might be too big of a job for even a legendary coach like Joe Paterno.