There is nothing more important to the success of a college football program than tradition. Sustained excellence. Conference championships. A win over the rival school so alums can beat their chest for a year.
Today’s Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium is a matchup between one program, Penn State, that has
mastered tradition, and another program, USC, that is trying to recapture it.
“A lot of people talk about USC’s tradition, this and that,” said running back Petros Papadakis. “The tradition is now for us. If we continue to look back toward the past, which is like 10 years ago now when USC was on top, we’re not going to get anywhere. We need to look forward to the guys we have. We need to believe in ourselves and be ourselves and do our jobs and everyone will be proud of us because I think we’ll be real good.”
It’s been a while since the Trojans, ranked 6th by The Post, could say they were among the nation’s elite. Only once in the ’90’s did USC finish with less than three losses. During that span the Trojans have had three coaches. They went to one Rose Bowl.
Remember Student Body Right/Student Body Left? It’s been 18 years since a USC running back has posted consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.
Now consider 20th-ranked Penn State. The coach, Joe Paterno, is beginning his 35th season as the head man. In the ’90’s the Nittany Lions won two Fiesta Bowls, one Rose Bowl and completed an undefeated season (12-0) in which they should have been awarded at least a share of the national championship.
The Trojans know real tradition when they see it.
“When I was young, I had a Penn State hat,” said Papadakis. “I loved Penn State. Joe Paterno signed it. He signed it for my dad but I have it in my room. I’ve always liked Penn State and really respected the way they play the game.”
They play in those generic blue and white jerseys, marred only by the Nike swoosh. They challenge teams up front, in the trenches. Despite the fact that he’s a marvelously gifted athlete, this is senior Rashard Casey’s first season as the starting quarterback because Paterno has never been comfortable with players he can’t control.
“I think he’s a good quarterback right now,” said Paterno. “He’s always been a great athlete. Now he’s on the verge of being an excellent quarterback.”
And Paterno is on the verge of becoming the winningest coach in Division I-A history. He needs seven wins to surpass Paul Bear Bryant’s mark of 323 victories.
It won’t come easy. The first two players taken in the 2000 NFL Draft were defensive end Courtney Brown and linebacker LaVar Arrington. So Paterno will put one of his youngest teams in 35 years on the field. The Trojans are not taking anything for granted.
“It’s a little bit intimidating,” USC quarterback Carson Palmer said of facing a Paterno team. “You come into the game and I was reading one of the press releases the other day about all these facts about him. I just couldn’t believe it. All these things he’s done and all the accolades and awards he’s won.
“It’s a little intimidating but he’s just a coach,” continued Palmer. “He’s not going to be on the field. He’s not going to come after me and try to tackle me. I don’t think he can cover any of the receivers any more. I heard he played defensive back [at Brown] a while ago. But I don’t think he can run like he used to.”
He can’t, but that doesn’t stop the 73-year-old Brooklyn native from trying. At a practice this summer, he got tripped from behind by a defensive back as he ran downfield to assess a deep pass pattern.
“It’s somewhat comical,” said defensive end Justin Kurpeikis. “You don’t even realize he’s as old as he is because he doesn’t act his age.”
Little about Paterno makes sense. A kid from the city streets making his home in State College, Pa. for 51 years. An English Literature major at Brown evolving into one of the greatest college coaches the game has ever known. He told this reporter once he was an egghead, but the Trojans don’t buy that either.
“If he does call himself an egghead, he’s doing a great job of running Penn State,” said center Eric Denmon. “I don’t believe he’s a an egghead because eggheads usually break and don’t stay around very long.”
