Comeback For The Ages Rally From 18-point Deficit Allows Paterno To Pass `bear’

By JERRY KELLAR [email protected]
Sunday, October 28, 2001 Page: 1C

UNIVERSITY PARK – With all the great individual efforts that took place at
Beaver Stadium Saturday, it’s only fitting that the slickest move belonged to
the man of honor.
So when college football’s all-time most winning Division I-A coach
successfully dodged a Gatorade bath from a couple of not-too bright freshmen
players, nobody gave it a second thought.

Then again, nothing 74-year-old Joe Paterno does is much of a surprise
anymore.

“I’m just thankful to be coached by the greatest coach ever,” senior
linebacker Shamar Finney said after Penn State beat Ohio State 29-27 to give
Paterno his milestone victory. “I’m going to remember this for the rest of my
life.”

It’s likely Paterno will, too. After the victory – secured by a late rally
engineered by redshirt freshman quarterback Zack Mills and a blocked field
goal by Jimmy Kennedy – the entire Nittany Lion family celebrated with the
coach. They honored him with gifts – including a life-size bronze sculpture, a
ring with “324” inscribed in the center, and a short film shown on the
stadium’s two video screens.

Though he broke down occasionally, Paterno was able to control his emotions
for the most part. That all changed when several of his nine grandchildren,
led by 6-year-old Joey, who plopped on his grandpa’s lap, joined him at the
podium during a postgame press conference that left the coach at a loss for
words about passing Alabama legend Paul “Bear” Bryant on the career victory
list.

“I wish I could think of something brilliant to say. I’m really just
pretty emotional. You never think it’s going to be a big deal until it happens
like it did and you see so many people. ... It’s just hard to describe,”
Paterno said. “I’m a very, very lucky guy and lucky to be at an institution
such as Penn State.

“This football team has been special in a lot of different ways because
they’ve had a lot ... it’s just nothing came easy to them. But they hung in
there, they could’ve called it quits a couple of times, but they didn’t. So
I’m very proud of them. And I’m proud of my family, they’re all here.”

His players, all of whom are young enough to be Paterno’s grandkids, were
equally moved by the emotion-filled scene.

“He helped me get here and now I had some part in helping him become the
all-time winningest coach,” said senior offensive tackle and Berwick High
School graduate Gus Felder. “He didn’t have to let me come here. He took me
in and gave me a chance. I look at now like I’ve helped him.”

“The old man, he deserves it,” defensive tackle Kennedy said playfully,
but respectfully. “Think about it, I was born in ’79 – Joe was still old.
I’ve never seen him young.”

“Joe,” D-end Michael Haynes said, “still has that fire.”

It appears the Lions (2-4) have finally caught the spark.

One week after its thrilling fourth-quarter rally at Northwestern, Penn
State found itself down again in the second half, victimized in part by its
own mistakes.

After Ohio State (4-3) scored two quick touchdowns to start the third
quarter, the latter on a 45-yard interception return, the Lions trailed 27-9.

With the crowd of 108,327 now officially restless, the Lions turned to
Mills, who just might go down as the greatest Penn State quarterback never to
start a game. Well, most of them, anyway.

Mills accounted for 418 of Penn State’s 531 offensive yards, 280 via the
air. He entered the contest for ineffective Matt Senneca on the team’s second
offensive series and got Penn State back into the game with a 69-yard
touchdown run.

About six minutes later, he connected with the suddenly revitalized Bryant
Johnson for 34 yards, then found Tony Johnson (no relation) in the left corner
of the end zone from 26 yards away.

Just like that, the Lions were within five – 27-22.

“He comes in so composed,” Bryant Johnson said. “It’s almost like a
role-reversal. It seems like he’s a fifth-year senior and he’s the veteran of
the team.”

Mills’ 14-yard floater to Eric McCoo on the second play of the fourth
quarter put the Lions ahead for good.

By now, they were in a full sweat on the Ohio State sidelines.

“Mills is the quarterback with the most potential (on the Penn State
team),” said OSU coach Jim Tressel. “He was the one who worried us the most
on film.”

The Lions had some fretting of their own to do.

Because Paterno opted to go for the extra point on PSU’s first score of the
second half, the Buckeyes were just a field goal away from winning the game.

“I blew that one,” Paterno said afterward.

Sure enough, Ohio State battled its way down field and lined up for a


Just as placekicker Mike Nugent’s right foot met the ball, Kennedy and
teammate Bryan Scott were beginning their upward climb.

“It came from within,” said Kennedy, who took credit for the block. “Joe
always says, `We need a leader out there.’ ”

When reporters appeared dumbfounded as to how a 330-pound man could get off
the ground so high, Kennedy shot back: “I just jumped. What, you don’t think
I can do that?”

Mills’ 34-yard dash on third-and-six allowed the Lions to run out the clock
and set the stage for a celebration that was matched only by the team’s two
national championships.

“I can’t believe I’m part of history, it’s unreal,” said sophomore
fullback and GAR High School graduate Paul Jefferson. “We had to keep
believing in him. Once you stop to believe, you’re not a football team any
more. We played our hearts out and he coached his heart out. That’s why he is
the man he is.”

Even Paterno, who thanked his wife, Sue, for making it possible, had
difficulty grasping the enormity of it all.

“The one thing that keeps going through my mind is how many great moments
I’ve had in coaching,” he said. “Every once in a while, when people tell me
to get out of it, I am like everybody else and every once in a while I think
about it. Then I realize how much it means to me and how many absolutely great
days I have had, and I know I don’t want to get out of it.

“Days like today, it’s hard to measure it to something that happened 10
years ago, five years ago. Certainly, there wouldn’t be anything that topped
this.”

In typical Paterno fashion, he tried to downplay his big day with a little
humor.

Asked his reaction upon seeing the almost 7-foot sculpture, the coach
smiled.

“From where I was standing, it looked like a handsome devil.”