BAL HARBOUR, Fla. — Joe Paterno had only about 90 minutes of sleep when he walked into the hotel meeting room to greet reporters on Wednesday morning.
It had been a long night for the grandfather coach.
His Orange Bowl victory over Florida State had ended at 1 a.m. He celebrated for a bit with former Nittany Lions like Franco Harris in the hotel hospitality room.
He finally got to his room to eat leftover pizza that his wife, Sue, heated up in the microwave.
He fell asleep around 4:30 or 5 a.m. and woke up 90 minutes later, too jittery to stay in bed.
He began scribbling down lineup possibilities for next season’s team, “projects we have, guys we have to work on. That’s always the fun of it.�
The thing is, the 79-year-old coach didn’t even look worn-out.
“I never had any problem sleeping before the game, I always had trouble sleeping after. I play the game over in my head, ‘We should have done this, we could have done this.’
“I’m enjoying it. I don’t see any reason to get out of (coaching). I’m not the same coach I was 20 years ago, but I’ve got a great staff.�
Paterno talked about how proud he was of his team for hitting hard and hanging tough against Florida State for three overtimes.
He praised kids like freshman kicker Kevin Kelly, who came back from two missed field goals to kick the game-winner.
“(Kelly) said to me after the second one, ‘Coach, I’m sorry.’ I said, ‘Aw, horse manure, you’re sorry. You’ll have another chance to win the game. Forget about that one. Just keep your head on right to win the next one.’ And thank goodness it worked out.�
He talked about playing senior safety Paul Cronin again. He had apparently kicked Cronin off the team in early October for a public drunkenness incident.
“I sat him out for a long time. I watched him and he went over on the scout team and worked his butt off and didn’t pout and the coaches thought he ought to have another shot. So I gave him another shot.�
He talked about how happy he was for tailback Austin Scott, who filled in for injured Tony Hunt and gained 110 yards on 26 carries and scored two touchdowns. He gained 105 yards in the first half.
“Austin Scott needed a game like that,� Paterno said. “He lacked a little confidence, maybe he didn’t think we had that kind of confidence in him, maybe we didn’t play him enough.
“He had been practicing real well. In fact, I had said to the staff, ‘We gotta get Scott in the game.’ This was a great game for (him). I think he’s going to feel a little bit better about himself.�
And Paterno mentioned how he got a snapshot after the game with Harris, his former star running back, and quarterback Michael Robinson.
Robinson didn’t play his best against Florida State, but he still made the key runs and passes late. He finished 21-of-39 passing for 253 yards and a touchdown.
“I said, ‘Here are two of the greatest players who ever played at Penn State,’¤� Paterno said. “Mike Robinson is one of the best players who ever played at Penn State.�
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