As I type this, the seniors on the Penn State football team are being introduced for their final home game. Senior Day is always an emotional experience, as a four or five year journey comes to an end. But this Senior Day is unlike any other we’ve ever seen.

If you allow yourself, for just a brief second, to think about what these kids have gone through in the last week, it’s mind-boggling that they’re about to play a football game. They just lost their coach in an unimaginable way, as Joe Paterno was fired on Wednesday night for his inaction in regards to the child sex scandal surrounding his former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky.

The psyche of these players is the collateral damage of a scandal that goes so far beyond football, it’s hard to imagine they’re even stepping onto the field today at all.

Paterno’s reputation is also collateral damage, although it’s of his own doing. Every time I begin to feel any sadness over what has become of the legacy of a man who has meant so much to college football, I go back to that inaction, and those thoughts disappear. For what he’s done — or more accurately, what he didn’t do — Paterno deserves to have his reputation tarnished. Any child that was hurt after Paterno had a chance to stop the monster that was Sandusky is a million times more important than any of his 409 wins. They’re a million times more important than his national championship. They’re much bigger than football and the Penn State program.

Of course, they were put aside to help protect all of those things, which is the most disgusting thing I can think of. This scandal is so much worse than the free tattoos, elicit boat trips or even elaborate pay-for-play scandals that the NCAA has cast its eye upon. This one looks to be outside the NCAA’s jurisdiction, and maybe that’s a good thing. For once, the men who were at the center of it all will be punished, and the kids, like those seniors that are walking onto their home field for the final time, will not be. That doesn’t change what has happened or make it better, but in a society that has obviously failed in protecting the kids, it’s a good start.

Technically I went 2-2 last Saturday but I did produce this gem, which was worth another win in my eyes:

My 2-2 effort last week puts me at 21-13-2 ATS for the season. Again, chances are two of these four picks will be winners while two will be losers. Soooo, have fun with that.

My two winners? Iowa (+4) and UCLA (+8.5). My two losers? Alabama (-4.5) and Texas A&M (+14).

My latest .500 week puts me at 23-15-2 on the season and once again, if you can figure out which two picks will hit and which two won’t, you’ll have a 4-0 Saturday. It’s like a game. A twisted, nauseating game.

Nebraska @ Penn State, 12:00PM ET
One of two things are going to happen this week at University Park. Either Penn State is going to play the most inspired football of the season or the Jerry Sandusky/Joe Paterno fiasco is going to bury them. I’m banking on the latter, which is why I’m riding the brutal-against-the-spread Huskers this week. Nebraska will be fired up and while Penn State may show plenty of emotion at the start, I think they’ll run out of steam eventually.
THE PICK: NEBRASKA –3.5

Michigan @ Illinois, 3:30PM ET
I’m going right back to the well in picking against Michigan. Outside of trouncing Northwestern, the Wolverines have played poorly in two of their three road games this season. While Illinois is going backwards, this is a good opportunity for the Illini to snap their current three-game losing streak. They also seem to play Michigan tough, which is supported by their 4-1 record against the spread in the last five games these two teams have met.
THE PICK: ILLINOIS –1

Louisiana Tech @ Ole Miss, 7:30PM ET
I’m choking on chalk this week but I really love this matchup. Some bettors will look at this game and all they’ll see is the WAC vs. the SEC, and the fact that Ole Miss is getting points at home. But in some respects, this is the Bulldogs’ season. They take down a SEC opponent on the road and regardless of whether or not they catch Nevada, their season will be a success. As for the Rebels, will their hearts even be in this one? They’ve been terrible all year and now they have a non-conference game that means absolutely nothing to them. Even though LA Tech is favored, I like the Dogs in an “upset.”
THE PICK: LOUISIANA TECH –2

Hawaii @ Nevada, 10:15PM ET
I’m choking on chalk this week. Hawaii has had issues coming to the mainland, as evidence of its embarrassing 40-20 loss to UNLV in Week 3. UNLV is one of the worst teams in college football this season and it steamrolled a Warrior team that was a 17-point favorite. Nevada is 4-1 against the spread in its last five home games against Hawaii and the home squad is 8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings between these two teams. I hate that the line is a full point and a half above the key number of 14 but I like the Wolf Pack anyway.
THE PICK: NEVADA -15

Check out College Football Point Spreads at Bullz-Eye.com.

The Penn State trustees met tonight and fired Joe Paterno. University president Graham Spanier chose to resign today when faced with potential dismissal.

It’s a stunning development given Paterno’s power at Penn State, but it seems like the only possible choice that the trustees could make. The staggering abdication of responsibility at Penn State in light of the allegations against Jerry Sandusky had to be dealt with. It might even be worse, as the bizarre silence by Penn State officials in 2002 and during subsequent years raises all sorts of questions about that motivated these men to avoid bringing in the police.

It’s the right decision. Letting Paterno coach on Saturday with the pageantry of a college football game in light of the pain suffered by children as a result of his silence seemed like a gross injustice.

Photo by Bill Moore. Copyright 2006 Bullz-Eye.com

In the wake of the stunning and disgusting allegations against Jerry Sandusky, legendary coach Joe Paterno is facing the inevitable questions about what he did he know and when did he know it.

It seems clear that Paterno is not being charged and he was cooperating with the grand jury investigation. Paterno was told of allegations in 2002 and he did the right thing by reporting it up the chain of command. The issue is whether he followed up and what he knew about the allegations. Given the severity of the allegations, how could Paterno not become more involved and try to get to the bottom of the situation? Penn State barred Sandusky from bringing minors to the athletic facilities, yet the police were never informed. Did Paterno ever ask what happened and whether the police became involved?

As of last night, the fallout began at Penn State:

Athletics director Tim Curley is going on administrative leave at his request, according to a statement from the school board of trustees late Sunday. Senior vice president for business and finance Gary Schultz will step down and go back into retirement.

The two face charges they perjured themselves before a grand jury and failed to notify law enforcement authorities of child sexual abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky, the one-time presumed successor to legendary coach Joe Paterno. Curley and Schultz are expected to turn themselves in to law enforcement in Harrisburg today. The move follows an emergency meeting of the trustees.

Also Sunday, Facebook page “Fire Graham Spanier” began as the specter of the scandal grew. On Saturday, Spanier had issued a statement offering strong support for Curley and Schultz.

Spanier’s comment suggests the real problem here – that Penn State was more interested in protecting the program and their own people than they were about protecting kids. Spanier should resign today due to this comment alone. Again, this begs the question of what did Paterno know. Wouldn’t allegations like this result in some meetings by all the powers that be at Penn State about how to proceed? Shouldn’t the issue of notifying the authorities be a minimum requirement by all involved?

Paterno claims he was “fooled” by Sandusky and denied knowing the specifics of the allegation:

Paterno wasn’t charged, and the grand jury report didn’t implicate him in wrongdoing. His son Scott, an attorney who helped his father draft the statement, said in a phone interview Sunday evening that his father didn’t know the severity of the alleged crimes until he read the grand jury’s findings Saturday.

“When he read the presentment and called me, he could barely speak,” Scott Paterno said.

“It was like a punch in the gut.”
*****
“As my grand jury testimony stated,” Joe Paterno said in the statement, “I was informed in 2002 by an assistant coach that he had witnessed an incident in the shower of our locker room facility. It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report. Regardless, it was clear that the witness saw something inappropriate involving Mr. Sandusky. As Coach Sandusky was retired from our coaching staff at that time, I referred the matter to university administrators.”

The problem with this statement is that it looks like Paterno did the minimum required here. Yes, he reported the incident, but where was the follow-through? Even if you don’t know the particulars, why continue to allow Sandusky to use the Penn State facilities? Why not insist on a full investigation? Paterno may not have committed a crime, but the issue is whether through his lack of follow-through he enabled Sandusky’s additional crimes.

Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Enquirer think that Paterno has to go.

Paterno escaped indictment because he told athletic director Tim Curley about an alleged 2002 incident in which a graduate student reported discovering Sandusky performing sex acts on a boy who was about 10 years old in the shower area of a football locker room. Paterno told Curley, who failed to report it to the proper authorities, according to the attorney general. Then Paterno apparently did nothing.

That is where we start to see the difference between the fictional Joe Paterno, whose reputation and that of the university has been built on rock-solid morals, and what might be the real Joe Paterno.

The fictional Joe Paterno would have said, “Hey, this is awful, but we have to clean it up. We have to do the right thing. It’s going to look bad for us, but you can’t let something like this go. We have to get Jerry some help, and we have to make sure he doesn’t hurt any kids.”

The real Paterno, as nearly as can be determined from the indictments, passed the information to Curley and then washed his hands. He apparently didn’t follow up when there was no further investigation. He apparently didn’t ask questions when Sandusky continued to enjoy his emeritus status on campus, complete with an office and access to the same building in which the alleged assault took place.

Again, this addresses the real questions here. Ford makes some assumptions about how Paterno handled this, and Paterno needs to answer these questions. Did he in fact wash his hands of this as the current knowable facts suggest?

Dan Wetzel offers a good summary of the allegations against the Penn State officials. These items stand out:

Curley later met with Sandusky and told him he was no longer allowed to bring children onto the Penn State campus. He forwarded the report on to university president Graham Spanier, who approved of Sandusky’s ban from bringing children onto campus and himself never reported the incident to police.
****
More importantly, Spanier needs to be immediately removed from an authority position since his culpability is tied to Curley. After all, Spanier both knew of the allegations against Sandusky and approved of Curley’s handling of the case.

That includes an act almost unfathomable in its insensitivity. According to the attorney general, no one at Penn State ever tried to find the boy. At worst, he was raped in a shower. At best, according to testimony that law enforcement finds non-credible, he was either “horsing around” with or being “inappropriately grabbed” by an old man in an empty locker room.

Yet no one thought they should go find the kid so he and his family could get proper help or further protection. Not even the university president?

“Despite a powerful eyewitness statement about the sexual assault of a child, this incident was not reported to any law enforcement or child protective agency, as required by Pennsylvania law,” said Kelly, the attorney general. “Additionally, there is no indication that anyone from the university ever attempted to learn the identity of the child.”

How? How could all these people of power, people of education, people of authority simply look the other way? And how could Graham Spanier maintain a level of arrogance to release that statement on this day?

Again, how could Paterno not follow through here? He hears about disturbing allegations, and whether or not he knew of the specifics, he had to know that Sandusky was later banned from bringing children to the campus. To anyone, this would look like the university was protecting itself as opposed to helping children. How could Paterno let this go? Did he?

Paterno’s son tried to explain the context:

Paterno first met Curley, a 57-year-old native of State College, when the future athletic director was in his teens. His indictment, Scott Paterno said, has left his father “shocked and saddened” as well.

“This has been as hard on Joe as anything I’ve ever seen him endure in the sense of, trying to come to grips with, ‘How did this happen?’” Scott Paterno said. “… When he was first told this (in 2002), he was 75. This was so far from what he could possibly conceive of. You come back to him now, he’s 84. It’s so outside of what he can even imagine.

“This guy grew up in a Norman Rockwell painting and wanted to live in one in State College,” Scott Paterno said about his father. “The sad reality is, even in Norman Rockwell paintings, there’s the back side of the painting. It’s just a very dark, ugly thing that happened around us that we didn’t see.”

Will this fly? I don’t think the public will let Paterno hide behind his age and his record. In the end he has to be open about the facts and the timeline, and if he failed to follow up, he has to own up to it and be ready to accept his share of responsibility.

With a recruiting pitch like that, it’s no wonder that Joe Paterno has hit the 400-win milestone.

He got it today with a 35-21 comeback win against Northwestern. As I have written in this place before, I feel like this should be Paterno’s final year at Penn State, but I say that knowing that he’s done so much in this sport, and I didn’t need today’s milestone to tell me that. Hitting 400 might be what he was waiting for, who knows.

Either way, it’s absolutely remarkable that a man at his age is still doing what he’s doing. I realize that he’s not calling the plays, and that he’s probably not as involved in the game-planning as he used to be, but he’s still there. He’s still stalking the sidelines and demanding respect from his players with his mere presence. He’s still Penn State personified.

So today is not a time to talk retirement or direction of the Penn State program. Today is a day to celebrate an absolute legend and the milestone he’s reached that won’t likely ever be hit again.

Congrats, JoePa, you deserved it.

I’m not the first person to write that headline. Heck, I wouldn’t have been the first had I written it 10 years ago.

But after today’s showing against Illinois, and this season in general, I think we can all agree that it’s time for Joe Paterno to step down at Penn State and let a new regime come in. In all honesty, he probably should have hung it up last year, as Daryll Clark walked out the door with a host of seniors, leaving behind a young team in a rebuilding state.

There’s no need for Joe Paterno to go through any kind of rebuilding, not at 83 years old. He probably didn’t need to be going through it as a 76-year-old, either, but he did and managed to make it out with a few more quality seasons. Whether or not that was good for the future of the Penn State program, who knows. I don’t know what coaches would have taken that job in 2004 or 2005, and even if I did, there’s no way to say they would have succeeded.

But now — with a young team that, even though it’s hitting some serious bumps in the road this year, has quite a bit of talent — would be a good time for Paterno to hand the reins to someone else. Whether it’s his son Jay or Greg Schiano (not the wisest move, in my opinion) or a great up-and-coming coach like a Jim Harbaugh (this is the best-case scenario for Penn State), it’s time.

Paterno has given more to college football than most anyone in history. He basically put Penn State on the map, and that will never be forgotten. But he needs to realize that now is clearly the time to step away and let the program grow without him.

So I’m watching Air Force play Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl on New Year’s Eve and one of the ESPN announcers says (I’m paraphrasing), “Everyone wants to focus on the national championship game, but the best bowl this year is in Pasadena. The Rose Bowl is best matchup on the bowl schedule this year.”

No way. No…way…

The announcer went on to talk about how USC was the top ranked program in the nation at one point this year and how Penn State was ranked in the top five, so the matchup is outstanding. Okay, I get that. The matchup does look outstanding, but it won’t be better than the title game.

I’ll be the first one to eat my words if I’m wrong, but I say USC waxes Penn State in the Rose Bowl this evening. The Trojans have one of the fastest and most talented defenses in the entire nation and while Joe Pa’s spread offense has been explosive, PSU hasn’t faced a defense like USC’s and I fail to see how this game remains close when the Trojans are playing in their own backyard.

The only way I see this game being tight is if USC comes out flat like it has a penchant for doing, or if Mark Sanchez starts turning the ball over – which he has a penchant for doing. In fact, if Penn State hangs with USC, I’ll dedicate an entire post about how underrated the Lions were all season and how wrong I was about the Trojans.

The Florida-Oklahoma title game matchup has everything. How will the Sooners’ dynamic offense fare against the Gators’ stifling defense? Will 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford outperform 2007 winner Tim Tebow? Can Bob Stoops’ team perform better this year than they have in past bowls? Will Urban Meyer win his second national championship in three years?

The Rose Bowl looks great on paper, but it’s a stretch to say that it’ll be more entertaining than the title game. (And the ESPN announcer hasn’t been the only one who suggested that it would be better than the title game because several media members throughout the week have been sharing that sentiment.)

Outside of USC and Penn State fans, does anybody else believe the Rose Bowl should be more exciting than the national title game? Am I missing something here?

For those that have ever uttered this over the past couple of years, “It’s gotta be time for Joe Paterno to hang it up,” Penn State just answered with: JoePa can hang it up whenever he damn well pleases.

At least we finally know when Joe Paterno will retire. It will be the day he forgot where he left the football stadium. Either that or the day they stop driving him to practice in a golf cart and start driving him in a coffin.

On Dec. 21, the Man Who Wouldn’t Retire turns 82. But he’s already received his birthday present — a three-year contract extension that will run until he’s 85.

Hooray for JoePa. He’s found a way to win and a way to remain employed at an age when few others are. And now it’s clear he intends to keep right on coaching — or at least being called a coach — until he dies on the sidelines.

It’s his choice. I say let him go for it — as long as his team keeps winning.

Four years ago, Paterno was putting together a 4-7 season on the heels of a 3-9 2003 season and losing records in 2000 and 2001. I was among the blasphemers who said that it was time for the then 78-year-old legend to retire. And if he wouldn’t go quietly, I wrote, Penn State had to fire him.

I wasn’t wrong then. The game had passed Paterno by, and he wasn’t going to start learning new tricks at his age. It was clear he could no longer do the job for which he was hired — to win football games. He still wouldn’t play freshmen. His offensive and defensive systems no longer worked. He was starting to populate a proud program with aspiring felons. He had to go.

But he’s gone 11-1, 9-4, 9-4 and 11-1 since then. His Nittany Lions are the Big Ten champs and are headed to the Rose Bowl to play USC. If he wants to stay forever, I won’t object. He’s winning football games, and that’s his job.

The great thing about Paterno is that he’s never been a coach stuck in his ways. He completely adapted to the spread offense this year and his team flourished. He knows how to roll with the times and as the writer noted, he’s still winning.

In an age where college coaches leave their teams right before bowl games so that they can pursue better jobs, I think JoePa’s career at Penn State should be marveled at. He’s a legend.

Michigan vs. Ohio State
It’s Michigan-Ohio State – a classic rivalry that unites strangers and divides friends once a year for three and half hours. The Buckeyes are 9-2 with dreams of a BCS bowl bid in their future, and a victory over the Wolverines will give them a share of their fourth consecutive Big Ten title. How bad is it for Michigan? Well, last week’s home loss to Northwestern officially stamped this season as the worst in school history. Never has a Wolverine team lost eight games in one season and Ohio State would love to lower the bar even further. National coverage begins Saturday at 12 PM on ABC. Click here for the official Michigan-Ohio State smack thread.

Michigan State vs. Penn State
A win for Joe Pa on Saturday could clinch Penn State’s first Rose Bowl appearance since 1994, their second year competing in the Big Ten. If Michigan State running back Javon Ringer cannot run the football, the Spartans will have no chance of winning this game. It will be a difficult task, as the Nittany Lions are ranked first in the Big Ten and 10th in the country against the run. Michigan State’s last victory in Beaver Stadium was in 1965, the year before Joe Paterno became head coach of the program. Regional coverage begins Saturday at 3:30 PM on ABC.

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma
A win in Norman on Saturday night would leave the Red Raiders two victories away from playing in the BCS national championship game. But an Oklahoma win will leave us with oh so many possibilities for our little bowl series come January. First off, we will have a three-way tie (Texas-Oklahoma-Texas Tech) for the top spot in the Big 12 South, and the conference has an interesting tie-breaker to determine the representative in the Big 12 title game against Missouri. The winner will be decided by which school has the highest ranking in the BCS bowl standing. So, Orwell’s big brother will have a vested interest in the outcome of this weekend’s game. National coverage begins Saturday at 8 PM on ABC. Click here for the official Texas Tech-Oklahoma smack thread.

New York Jets vs. Tennessee Titans
Two of the hottest teams in AFC will square off this Sunday, as the New York Jets travel to Memphis to face the undefeated Tennessee Titans and the winner could emerged as the conference favorite to reach the Super Bowl. The East-leading Jets are riding a four-game winning streak into the game, while the Titans are looking to become the 13th team in league history to open a season with a 11-0 record. The media spotlight has shine brightest on quarterback Brett Favre, but the team’s turnaround can be contributed to the Jets running attack. New York has averaged over 160 yards per game and scored eight rushing touchdowns in its last five games. The Titans defense could welcome back two starters this week with defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (groin) and cornerback Nick Harper (ankle) returning to the lineup. Regional coverage begins Sunday at 1 PM on Fox.

If Alabama, Penn State and Texas Tech win out, we’ll be hearing plenty of arguments over who should be facing Alabama in the National Championship game. Call it this year’s BCS mess.

In today’s BCS standings, Texas Tech has jumped Penn State to take the #2 spot, mostly due to better computer rankings even though Penn State is #2 in the polls. That’s not too surprising given Texas Tech’s win over Texas, tough that’s little consolation to Penn State fans.

It’s hard to have much sympathy for Penn State, however, given their embarrassing non-conference schedule – Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse and Temple. Would it kill Joe Paterno to schedule some national powers?

But, Texas Tech’s non-conference schedule is even worse – Eastern Washington, Nevada, SMU and Massachusetts. Pathetic. Of course, Texas Tech is playing in the Big-12, which has some very good teams this year, even if the entire conference seems to have forgotten how to play defense. In the end, playing in this conference will save Texas Tech.

Or will it? They still have to face #9 Oklahoma State and #6 Oklahoma on the schedule, not to mention the Big-12 championship game. If they win out, they deserve to play for the BCS championship. It will be a tough road.

Which brings us back to Penn State. If Joe Paterno and an undefeated Nittany Lions team get left out of the title game, it might be enough of an outrage to finally force a playoff format.