Recordpub.com - Buckeye Buzz: Is JoePa older than Shirley Temple?

COLUMBUS — The 15th-ranked Buckeyes visit No. 11 Penn State, and coach JoPa, on Saturday.

The legend of Joe Paterno is hard to quantify. Heck, his age is hard to quantify.

From Joe Posnanski’s profile of the 82-year-old Penn State coach in Sports Illustrated last month:

“You know Don Shula? He won more professional games than any other coach. He retired 14 years ago. Joe is older than Don Shula.

“Gordie Howe, Mr. Hockey, played his first season in the NHL in 1946. Joe is older than Mr. Hockey. Arnold Palmer won his first Masters more than 50 years ago, back when the whole idea of golf on television seemed ludicrous. Joe is older than Arnold Palmer.

“Here’s another one: David Bell played 12 years in the major leagues and retired in 2006. His father, Budd Bell, played in the bigs 18 seasons. His father, Gus Bell, played in the majors for 15 seasons and retired 45 years ago. Joe was born before Gus Bell.

“Joe was born before Shirley Temple, before Andy Warhol, before James Dean, before Buddy Holly, before Mikhail Gorbachev. People celebrate Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon 40 years ago; Joe is older than Neil Armstrong. People commemorate Martin Luther King day; Joe was born before Martin Luther King. Elvis impersonators still haunt the Vegas strip; Joe was born before the King of Rock and Roll.”

SPEAKING OF JOE: Paterno was asked this week whether Ohio State was trying to give the Nittany Lions’ staff something to think about by kicking onside and running a double-reverse pass in last week’s rout of New Mexico State.

Here’s Paterno’s response: “I don’t have the slightest idea. I know that they tried an onside kick. I know they recovered an onside kick, I thought they did it very well. The kicker dribbled the ball and he got on top of it and obviously the New Mexico State kids weren’t expecting it, all right? And they were successful with it. Whether that’s trying to send a message or not, ask (Jim) Tressel when you get him on a press conference, all right?”

SPEAKING OF TRESSEL: Tressel declined to talk in depth about the proposed “alternate uniform” that the Buckeyes have agreed to wear (with Nike’s urging) for the Michigan game.

“It was months ago. Nike came to us and said they’re doing this around the country with their Nike partners and I’m one of those old-fashioned, ’Oh, man, I don’t know about this. We’ll leave that one up to the players and the young coaches,”’ Tressel said.

Refusing to discuss the rumor that the Buckeyes would wear a white helmet in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Nov. 21, Tressel moved the conversation back to this week’s game against Penn State.

“Penn State will be wearing white helmets,” he said. “That’s the only white helmets I’m concerned with right now.”

BRUISED, UNBOWED: QB Terrelle Pryor was limping as he left the interview room after Saturday’s game.

Pryor conceded on Wednesday night that he was beaten up.

“I’m a little sore. But like I told a bunch of people, you’re going to have to kill me not to play,” he said. “It don’t matter. So I’m going to give it my all. I owe the seniors, I owe the team, I owe them 100 percent of my play on Saturday.”

Tressel said he doesn’t expect Pryor to have any lingering effects of the pounding he’s been taking.

“I would expect him not to be debilitated,” Tressel said. “Adrenaline is an amazing thing, even when you’re feeling a little bit sore or whatnot. All of a sudden the blood starts flowing and the lights are turned on and it’s time to go. He’ll be ready to go.”

TAR HEEL AT HEART: Pryor grew up in Jeannette, Pa., and has gone to “more than 10” games at Beaver Stadium, including the one two years ago when the Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions.

Yet Pryor said this week when he was growing up he didn’t envision himself scoring touchdowns for Penn State.

“I always wanted to play basketball for North Carolina,” he said with a laugh. “A big detour.”