UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he is getting as much work done as he did before his leg was severely injured last fall, but he said most of the work he does now is from his home.

Paterno communicates from his home via telephone or fax machine and, because he lives only a few minutes from campus, he said he can get to the office when necessary. But, for the most part, Paterno, who turned 80 in December, only visits the football facility to attend practices or to meet with coaches.

"I don't like the office," Paterno said. "I don't stay there. I work mostly from my house, which is only three blocks away. I have a fax machine there and all my tapes that I watch. I can sit down with a tape for four, five, six hours and not be bothered. I think I'm getting as much done as before."

Paterno said working from home is not a result of his injury. He said he decided to work from his home office five or six years ago when distractions became a daily occurrence at the football facility. He said he can afford to do that because he has a veteran coaching staff that knows how to go about preparing a team.

"With the staff I have ... we come together when we have to make decisions," he said. "But I just let them go. I let them coach."

Paterno said his injured leg is not giving him any major problems. He said he thought about coaching from the sideline yesterday, but decided against it because he didn't want to be a distraction and take the limelight away from the players.

Paterno touched

Thousands of Penn State fans, including Sue Paterno, came to the game dressed in maroon and orange, the colors of Virginia Tech. Joe Paterno entered his pregame news conference with a Virginia Tech hat in hand, courtesy of the girlfriend of Jeremy Herbstritt, one of the 32 people who was killed in last week's shooting spree in Blacksburg, Va. Herbstritt was a native of Bellefonte, Pa., and his father works at Penn State.

Paterno said he was proud of the way Penn State students and alumni responded to the tragedy.

Not worried

Paterno said he was aware of the State College police investigation of an on-campus assault that is centered around members of his team, but he said the investigation has not been a distraction.

"You know more about it than I do," Paterno told reporters. "It hasn't been a distraction yet. ... I don't know if I have anything to worry about yet."

State College police chief Thomas King said last week that the investigation should come to a close early this week and that there should be an announcement on charges, perhaps as early as Wednesday.

Record crowd

The warm weather drew a crowd of 71,000 to Beaver Stadium for the game, a record crowd for the annual spring game. The previous record was 68,000.