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Wednesday, October 23, 2002

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Former Penn State cornerback Adam Taliaferro, whose spinal cord was injured two years ago at Ohio Stadium, is expected to make the trip with the team Saturday when it visits Ohio State.

Taliaferro, who has almost fully recovered from the injury, visited with Ohio State doctors and medical personnel in the spring of 2001. If he goes, Taliaferro, now a student coach, will set foot on the field for the first time since the injury.

Paterno said Taliaferro probably would not count as one of the 64 players allowed to travel under conference rules because he is not a player anymore. Paterno said he believes it is important to show gratitude to the Ohio State medical personnel who helped save Taliaferro's life. He also said it is a positive example for television viewers unaware of Taliaferro's inspirational story.

The game is an ABC regional telecast.

"You have the opportunity to show people who have problems that if they stay with it, there is hope," Paterno said. "That is what Adam can do. I would hate to miss an opportunity for however many people watch the game, to show that you can lick it to a degree. In that sense, to bring him there is an inspiration to some other people.

"I do think that if there is an appropriate way to do it that we want people to know that Adam was able to overcome something that a lot of people didn't think could be overcome, and maybe that will encourage some other people who have a tendency to throw it in to go after it. That, to me, would be the important part of it."

Get rid of overtime

Penn State is 0-3 in overtime games, 0-2 this season. Paterno indicated yesterday he would favor eliminating overtime altogether. In college, teams get the ball at the 25-yard line and can score touchdowns or kick field goals. If the score is tied after an overtime period, additional periods are played until one team wins.

"My feeling is why do we need overtime when we put the two-point play in? We played Michigan, and Michigan probably would have gone for two at the end of the game against us. I probably would have done the same thing," he said. "The two-point play was put in to break up ties, and we stuck in overtimes. I'm not real crazy about it, but I don't have an alternative other than to eliminate it and just go back to what we had. People would be willing to go for two points at different times in the game. That's why the two-point play was put in."

Injury report

Tight end Casey Williams (knee) will not play this week but might return next week against Illinois. Guard E.Z. Smith (shoulder) should play. For Ohio State, offensive tackle Shane Olivea will not play after having an appendectomy yesterday. A team trainer said Olivea, a 6-foot-5, 310-pound junior, could be back in time for the Buckeyes' game Nov. 2 against No. 25 Minnesota. His replacement in the starting lineup will be freshman Rob Sims, with Ivan Douglas moving from left tackle to right tackle.