Tuesday, September 09, 2003

In the spring and early summer, when the Big East Conference looked as if it might collapse after the unconscionable raid of the Atlantic Coast Conference, there was a near-universal belief that the league could not only be saved but be uplifted if Penn State could be persuaded to join its ranks.

Right! Just what the Big East needed -- another mediocre football program.

That's right, mediocre.

For about three decades, under the brilliant coaching of Joe Paterno, Penn State was included in any listing of the elite college football programs in America. Penn State was the best of the best, the colossus of the East, the equal of Notre Dame, Michigan, Southern California, Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas.

Not anymore. All that changed late in the 1999 season when a run at a national championship was shockingly ended with a Homecoming loss to Minnesota. The Penn State program hasn't been the same since that early November afternoon.

Since opening the 1999 season at 10-0, Penn State has been a different football program. It has been unranked more often than it has been ranked. It has been at or below .500 about as often as it has been above .500. If that's not mediocre, what is?

Since the 10th game of 1999, Penn State is 21-21. If that's not mediocre, what is?

Over the past five seasons, Penn State has finished fifth, tied for fourth, tied for fifth, tied for fourth and fourth in the Big Ten. If that's not mediocre, what is?

This season, the Lions had difficulty with Temple, which lost to Division I-AA Villanova the next week, and were soundly defeated by Boston College, a second-tier Big East team. If that's not mediocre, what is?

Not only is Penn State no longer an nationally elite program, it's not even a Big Ten elite program. When Penn State joined the Big Ten it was expected to stand beside Michigan and Ohio State as the conference aristocracy. It worked that way for a few years, but as their recent finishes in the league indicate, the Lions are just another Big Ten also-ran.

Since 1999, the Lions are 3-7 against the elite of the Big Ten -- Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The fact something is wrong at Penn State is no longer in dispute. It's not a case of whether there is blame but where to place it. Of course, it all stops at the top with Paterno, who administers the football program without interference from the university president or athletic director. It's a power he has earned over the years and a power that could be detrimental to the success of the program.

Paterno's mind appears to be as sharp as ever. The basic concept of football has not changed over the years. After a big win against Nebraska last season, Paterno reminded those at a postgame news conference that some of the key calls in the game were plays he had used decades earlier. Football remains a game of blocking, tackling, throwing, catching and running.

But as has been suggested, and understandably so, Penn State has become too much a closed society. The coaching staff is filled with Penn State men, who are, of course, Paterno men and who might be too much in awe and have too much respect for the head coach to counter his thinking.

When longtime defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky resigned after the 1999 season, under less than amicable circumstances, it was said the only man who would stand up to Paterno had left the staff.

Offensive coordinator Fran Ganter and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley played at Penn State for Paterno in the 1970s and have coached nowhere but Penn State. Many other assistants are close to being Penn State lifers. But Paterno has brought in outsiders. Assistants Kenny Carter, Brian Norwood and Ron Vanderlinden have considerable experience beyond Happy Valley.

The failure of junior quarterback Zack Mills to progress after an exceptional freshman season suggests coaching could be a factor in his lack of development. The Penn State quarterback coach is Jay Paterno, the coach's son. Jay Paterno made three brief coaching stops before returning to his alma mater, but has he ever dealt with a quarterback of Mills' skill level?

In 1979, when Dan Marino enrolled at Pitt, Jackie Sherrill realized he had no one to tutor the young phenom. He went out and hired Wally English, who had developed a national reputation as an expert in developing quarterbacks and in the passing game. English learned his trade at Brigham Young, which was in the forefront of developing the sophisticated passing offense.

Mills might have been better served with such a teacher.

The schedule ahead is not easy. The Lions play at Nebraska Saturday. After a certain win against Kent State, they get into their Big Ten schedule, which means three or four more losses likely loom -- even with Michigan off the schedule this season.

Once, an 8-4 or 7-5 record wasn't good enough for Penn State. Sadly, after consecutive losing seasons in 2000 and 2001, it's more than acceptable today. Mediocrity has a way of altering expectations.

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