Paterno doesn't need a break

PAGING ANDY REID. Paging Andy Reid . . .

Penn State coach Joe Paterno might not have all that much in common with Reid, the Eagles coach - JoePa is skinnier and his news conference utterances are funnier, if not necessarily more informative - but maybe the most significant difference for purposes of comparison is their records coming off bye weeks.

As everyone who watched the Eagles disassemble the Cowboys on Sunday night knows, Reid is 13-0 following a bye. That gives Big Red a significantly higher winning percentage than JoePa, who is 31-15 in such contests, a .674 success rate that is not as good as his overall winning percentage of .732, if you discount the three ties in his 409-136-3 mark.

With 16th-ranked Penn State (8-1, 5-0 Big Ten) in the midst of its bye week before hosting No. 9 Nebraska (7-1, 3-1) on Nov. 12 in Beaver Stadium - the launch of a three-game, regular-season-ending gauntlet that also includes visits to currently unranked but dangerous Ohio State (5-3, 2-2) and No. 19 Wisconsin (6-2, 2-2) - the question is whether the break in the schedule helps or hinders the Nittany Lions.

The Nits frequently have danced with disaster during their seven-game winning streak, the most recent close call coming in Saturday's 10-7 edging of visiting Illinois in the snow. Penn State needed an 80-yard touchdown drive (aided by a borderline pass-interference call in the end zone) and a makable field goal by the Illini that clanked off the right upright at the final gun to pull that one out.

For his part, Paterno appears ambivalent on the subject. True, the offweek gives his banged-up players time to physically recover, but it also blunts some of the momentum created during the ugly but utilitarian winning streak. Nebraska, meanwhile, gets to maintain its regular routine when it hosts Northwestern.

"I don't particularly like bye weeks at any time because you get out of your routine," Paterno said yesterday during his turn in the weekly Big Ten coaches' teleconference. "But I guess if you're going to have one, this is as good a time as any, although I'm not crazy about it.

"I would probably rather have come off [the victory over Illinois] with the enthusiasm and excitement it created, and played another home game. But that's the way it goes."

Paterno didn't always have such a distaste for byes. During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Penn State played 12 consecutive weekends without a break and JoePa complained that a nonstop schedule took too great a toll on players who wore down without being afforded an opportunity to at least once catch their breath. No one can have it both ways, and for Paterno to grouse about having an open weekend now suggests he has forgotten, conveniently or otherwise, his comments of just a few years ago.

Perhaps the widest variance in comparable outcomes, in regard to bye weeks, dates to the 1993 and '94 seasons. In 1993, when the Lions went 10-2, both of their losses - to Michigan and Ohio State - came following byes. Paterno probably had reason to believe that his team was given too much time off by the schedule-makers to maintain much continuity.

In the memorable 12-0 season that followed, Penn State again had a quirky schedule - two byes over 3 weeks - but that bunch, maybe Paterno's most talented ever, avenged the 1993 losses to Michigan and Ohio State.

Paterno, who admits to pushing his current team hard since the preseason, is easing up for the time being. The Lions didn't practice Monday, and yesterday they lined up for flu shots and some position meetings. They'll practice today through Friday and have the weekend off before turning their full attention to Nebraska.

"I think it's really important," senior wide receiver Derek Moye, who saw spot duty in the fourth quarter against Illinois after missing the two previous games with a broken foot, said of the bye week. "I think we're all glad to have this bye week, especially this late in the season. It gives us a chance to get some guys healthy and to prepare for our next three games."

Joe Paterno said yesterday that sophomore Rob Bolden is still part of the quarterback picture, even though Matt McGloin is getting most of the snaps and seemingly has had more success.

"We are still going to do it as a rotation," Paterno said. "It wouldn't be fair to Bolden for me not to still consider him as one of the kids that we are going to depend on. He's worked too hard . . . I'm pretty sure we'll end up playing him. But again, we've got this week and next week to go back to some basic things and we'll see what happens.

"Bolden, he still has a great future; a big strong kid, he throws the ball well. He has not had a lot of good luck. He's had some passes that have been dropped in a couple of ballgames that could have made a big difference. I don't see any problems as of right now. Maybe some will develop that I don't know about, but right now, he appears to be fine."

Punter/placekicker Anthony Fera was selected to the list of candidates for the Ray Guy Award, presented to the nation's top punter. Fera also is one of the semifinalists for the Lou Groza Placekicker Award.