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College football's elder statesman has one of his youngest teams in ages.
Joe Paterno's roster at Penn State includes nearly five dozen freshmen and sophomores, and just eight senior starters - one of the factors JoePa cited for the second-half collapse last week in a 24-point loss at No. 8 Ohio State.
Chances for a conference title disappeared weeks ago, though it doesn't mean that Paterno is ready to use the last two regular-season games of 2010 as a warm-up for his younger players for 2011.
''No, I don't think that's fair to the kids ... who will be leaving us. And you know, they have worked hard. They are entitled to have the best season they possibly can have,'' the 83-year-old Paterno said Tuesday. ''We are worrying about this year game-by-game. We'll worry about next year as soon as this season's over.''
At 6-4 (3-3 BigTen), victories Saturday against Indiana in Landover, Md., and on Thanksgiving weekend at home vs. No. 11 Michigan State would solidify the Nittany Lions' chances for a third consecutive New Year's Day bowl game.
But the outlook looks dramatically different from a week ago, when Penn State was riding a three-game winning streak and an emotional, come-from-behind win over Northwestern to snag Paterno's 400th career victory.
Paterno is sticking with Matt McGloin as the starting quarterback after the redshirt sophomore threw two interceptions returned for touchdowns by the Buckeyes in the second half last week. McGloin did toss two first-half touchdown passes before the team got overrun at the Horseshoe after halftime.
Ohio State counterpart Terrelle Pryor led a romp over a defense that played most of the second half without perhaps its best player in linebacker Michael Mauti (right shoulder).
It added up to the Nittany Lions' fourth loss this season by 20 or more points.
''You are bound to have those days when ... you can't make something happen for yourself, and anything adverse that happens, is probably a little bit more dramatic than it would be when you get all of the kids,'' Paterno said.
Paterno also expects to have tailbacks Evan Royster (left knee) and Stephfon Green available for the Hoosiers. Royster said Tuesday he was fine, and that Green passed a concussion test this week after getting knocked out of the Ohio State game.
But Mauti is considered doubtful with his dislocated shoulder - a blow for an already injury-ravaged defense that lacks a consistent pass rush, sure tacklers and go-to playmakers such as linebackers Sean Lee or Navorro Bowman from last season.
Redshirt freshman Malcolm Willis, pressed into duty at free safety after injuries to juniors Nick Sukay and Andrew Dailey, hopes the defense has learned a lesson - though he refuses to use youth as an excuse.
''I don't think it has anything to do with'' youth, he said. ''It's a lesson learned in any sport when you take a loss. In our situation, we just have to keep coming out and playing hard.''
Paterno was ambiguous about the status of promising freshman tailback Silas Redd, another key young contributor. Redd was issued a citation for disorderly conduct by university police early Sunday morning for urinating in public on campus, according to a police log.
Redd is listed on the depth chart as the second-string tailback. Asked Tuesday whether Redd would play, Paterno responded, ''Silas Redd? We'll find out.''
Later Tuesday, defensive end Sean Stanley was cited by State College police for disorderly conduct stemming from an incident Friday, according to court records. Stanley started the next day at Ohio State, and the sophomore is listed as a possible starter for Saturday against Indiana. The citation was first reported by 1450 AM-ESPN Radio in State College.
The 19-year-old sophomore last month was charged with misdemeanor marijuana posession by university police for having a small amount of the drug, stemming from a police call to his on-campus apartment in late September.
