Let's get one thing clear. I'm not terribly impressed with JoePaterno.
I was a Pitt -- now the University of Pittsburgh -- fan when growing up and attended one of the school's branch campuses. The Penn State coach, in my view, was especially petty when he discontinued the intrastate rivalry because he wanted Pittsburgh to play two games in Unhappy Valley for every one in Pittsburgh.
He's a Republican, which seems a little strange, considering that it was a Republican President, Richard Nixon, who took time out from running the Vietnam War to deprive Penn State of an chance at a national championship after an undefeated season in 1969 by anointing Texas as the best team in the land.
Paterno's reputation for integrity is well overblown. In the past few years, Paterno's charges have been accused of rape, beating up cops, and -- worst of all -- beating up members of the wrestling team, which recently has been far more successful than the football team.
Not only all that, but his life-size cardboard cutout is particularly creepy. When there is one in the room, no matter where you stand, Paterno's eyes appear to be looking right at you!
All that aside, rumors of the end of Paterno's era at Penn State are greatly exaggerated. Or at least they should be.
Paterno has earned one more year, if for no other reason than for his service to Penn State University -- which, but for his term of employment, would be little more than Pennsylvania's cow college (it was founded as an agricultural school under the Land Grant Act of 1857).
Football history, both for Penn State and the Pittsburgh Steelers, would have been far different, and not necessarily for the better in either case, had Paterno accepted the Steelers offer in 1969 to be their head coach. His rejection worked out well for the Steelers because their second choice was Chuck Noll.
Penn State didn't fare too badly ,either, and neither did Paterno. Success has made him wealthy enough to donate piles of money back to the university, which has named a library in his honor.
And one more year might be all JoePa needs to polish his now-tarnished legacy.
The weakness in State College has been on offense, specifically the offensive line and quarterback. Next year's front is going to be bigger and more experienced. Next year's quarterback is Anthony Morelli.
How good is Morelli? Here's all you need to know: he threw more than 200 passes his senior year while playing high school ball at Penn Hills (Pa.) High School for coach Neil Gordon, who would rather eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Fear Factor Café for the rest of his life than call a pass play.
In 1995, Penn Hills won a state championship with two 1,000-yard rushers, an offensive line that outweighed the Steelers' line the same season, and threw something like 50 passes in 15 games.
After last season, Morelli was the most heavily-recruited quarterback in the country and Paterno swiped him from the University of Pittsburgh, which had a verbal commitment from the blue-chipper. That indicates JoePa still has something under the bonnet when it comes to recruiting.
At least in Pennsylvania, Paterno is still dominating the recruiting wars. One of the reasons that University of Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris will probably get fired this season is that he hasn't been able to stop Paterno from recruiting Pitt's backyard.
Part of that isn't Harris' fault. Playing in the Big 10 is far more enticing to a high school senior than lining up in the MAC ... I mean the Big East -- both of those conferences look the same to me.
Last year, he got Morelli and defensive lineman A.Q. Shipley. The year before that, it was linebacker Paul Posluszny. The last top western Pennsylvania prospect that got away from Paterno was wide receiver-punt returner Steve Breaston, and he went to Michigan.
This season, as quarterbacks Zack Mills and Michael Robinson have been turning in one dismal performance after another, there has been one question on the lips of Nittany Lions Nation -- where's Morelli?
Paterno's stock answer is that Morelli hasn't been ready. In truth, the real answer is that the rest of the offense hasn't been ready.
Morelli will be ready next season. Paterno is betting his legacy on it. There is every reason to believe that JoePa isn't heeding all of the calls for his retirement because he expects next year's team to bring his coaching career to a more fitting conclusion than this year's will.
Of the 22 players who started for the Nittany Lions in their Nov. 6 loss to Northwestern, 19 are underclassmen. And of the three who are graduating, one is Mills, who is only keeping a seat warm for Morelli.
Robinson, a game-breaking wide receiver and a back-breaking quarterback, will be playing wideout next season.
On defense, Penn State is returning nearly all of a defensive lineup that has played well enough to have the Nittany Lions contend for the Big 10 title.
There are a lot of people who are saying the game has passed Paterno by. That goes with the territory when you're a 77-year-old with four losing seasons in the past five.
But I'm reserving judgment, because I have a feeling that all the people who are saying Paterno is past his sell-by date right now will look silly next year if Penn State wins at least nine games next year.
On the College Football Sidelines...
Can things get any worse for the Big Least? First, Miami and Virginia Tech, which have won just about every football championship in conference history, defect to the ACC.
Then, Boston College decides to bolt, as well. And, as a parting shot, the Eagles upset West Virginia to all but wrap up the conference title. The two teams are likely to finish tied, depending on what happens when WVU meets Pitt the day after Thanksgiving, but BC would win on a tiebreaker based on its win over the Mountaineers.
That means the Big East's representative in the BCS bowls will probably be a football team that, on Jan. 2, will no longer be in the conference.
This week, the Big East's powers that be should call a special meeting, in which the conference changes its tiebreaker rules to read, in effect, "Teams who are scheduled to leave the conference shall lose all ties in the standings, regardless of other tiebreaker outcomes."
Then, Michael Tranghese, conference commissioner, can turn to BC coach Tom O’Brien and say, "Have fun in your second-tier bowl and good luck in the ACC."
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