The story of Penn State's 2003 football season can be told with a stack of police reports, not necessarily because the Nittany Lions' legal problems caused the losses, but because they scratched away at the program's pristine image just as much as the losses.

Penn State stumbled through a 3-9 season last year -- not since 1931 had the team won fewer games. But just as irregular, and just as important, a rash of Lions players faced troubles -- underage drinking citations, fights, sexual assault charges -- away from the field. Some players left the team. Others missed the season with suspensions. Some overcame the problems, feeling stronger and smarter for it.

Though one football season hardly qualifies as a telling sample, on-field and off-field problems seemingly joined hands last year at Penn State. So maybe optimism, then, should extend from the lack of legal trouble experienced by the team this summer, a period of good conduct that contrasts mightily with the missteps from a year earlier.

"I feel better that a lot of those things are behind us," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "But the minute you open your mouth, somebody does something stupid."

Can you blame Paterno if last season conditioned him to fear the worst? Paterno suspended E.Z. Smith for the year after the lineman received two underage drinking charges in one week last August. Another offensive lineman, Tom McHugh, cited for harassment and public drunkenness, was dismissed from the team after allegedly slapping a women in an on-campus incident in October. That same month, Tony Johnson, the team's top receiver, was arrested for drunken driving and suspended for two games.

Problems entailed both the commonplace (punter Jeremy Kapinos was cited for underage drinking and disorderly conduct) and the curious (defensive lineman Scott Paxson was stopped by police riding an allegedly stolen bicycle). Kapinos had to enroll in a youth offender program. In Paxson's case, misdemeanor charges of receiving stolen property were dropped.

Two other defensive linemen, Matthew Rice and Ed Johnson -- both back on the team -- were suspended in the spring for their involvement in a fight in February. Then-sophomore linebacker Dethrell Garcia left the team after his arrest for drunken driving. And Anwar Phillips, penciled in as a starting cornerback this year, was arrested and later acquitted on a charge of sexual assault.

The cumulative effect was simple: Fans following Penn State in 2003 couldn't avoid reading about the team's problems.

"It was a lot, but I don't believe [fans] think we're thugs," Rice said. "Thugs don't go to college. We're human, man."

Paterno has shown patience with many of his troubled players, especially the younger ones -- freshmen and sophomores -- who he believes are more prone to mistakes.

"I think that every once in awhile you just have to get them through it without killing them," he said. "Most of the problems these guys have had happened when they were younger. Hopefully, some of the kids that had some problems will be mentors to some of the younger kids who might be tempted to do some of the dumb things they did."

One case has yet to be fully resolved. Wideout Maurice Humphrey, the team's second-leading receiver last year, was expelled from school after the football season for assaulting his ex-girlfriend and one of her acquaintances. He was convicted of three counts of simple assault but avoided a jail sentence by serving time in an alcohol rehab center.

Paterno, asked about Humphrey's status earlier this month, didn't rule out a return to the team. But first, a Penn State judicial board must decide whether Humphrey can return to school.

"We're still waiting to hear back, but, hopefully, a decision should come in the next week or so," said John Capodice, Humphrey's foster parent and former high school coach.

Humphrey, Capodice said, remains hopeful to play for Penn State this season, especially because the team is thin at wide receiver.

Aside from Humphrey, though, much appears settled

Smith is back from his suspension and starting at center. Kapinos and Paxson are back with the team, too -- and slated to be first-teamers. Moreover, the problems that sandbagged the team in 2003 have yet to recur.

"I am optimistic," Paterno said, "that we are a more mature football team."