Beginning with an April 2007 fight at an off-campus apartment that led to several arrests - but eventually just two pleaded-down assault convictions - Penn State players have been connected to a series of run-ins of varying degrees with the law. There was another fight involving multiple players, a rape charge that was dropped, a driving-while-under-the-influence charge, an assault charge after a player pulled a knife on a teammate and several underage drinking citations.

Paterno had vowed to crack down on the incidents and suspended six players in the first three months of this year. Only five remained after wide receiver Chris Bell was kicked off the team in April when he allegedly threatened defensive end Devon Still with a knife during a public argument. Bell was charged with misdemeanor assault and has since left the university and is enrolled at Division I-AA Norfolk State.

"You could smell it coming," Paterno said at Saturday's College Football Hall of Fame enshrinement. "I blame myself. We tried to get him some counseling."

Meanwhile, defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor, tight end Andrew Quarless, linebacker Navorro Bowman and defensive back Knowledge Timmons still await a decision on their futures.

"I'm waiting for grades," Paterno said. "They're still in summer school and they're working hard. Most of those guys, I think, will be fine. They've kind of taken their medicine. There's one or two I'm not so sure yet."

It's expected that the players will either miss a game or two to start the season or will have to work their way back into their regular roles.

An examination into the spate of off-the-field incidents involving Nittany Lions players by ESPN's Outside the Lines is scheduled to air Sunday.

Paterno said that he was recently interviewed about the once squeaky-clean program's penchant for garnering crime-related headlines over the last decade and more specifically the last year and a half. The Hall of Famer said he was withholding judgment on the report.

"I got to wait and see," Paterno said. "They threw numbers at me that kind of surprised me a little bit. No names, just numbers, and that bothers me. I hope they're fair. We're not perfect."

Ready for football. On Thursday and Friday, Paterno and senior captains wide receiver Derrick Williams, center A.Q. Shipley and Gaines will be in Chicago for the Big Ten media conference. Safety Anthony Scirrotto, the other co-captain, will not attend.

Preseason practice begins Aug. 4 and there are only a number of positions up for competition. The most widely anticipated will be the battle for starting quarterback between senior Daryll Clark and redshirt sophomore Pat Devlin. While he's been there, done the "unknown quarterback thing" many times before, Paterno said it was a chief concern.

"I think it's always your concern unless you got a guy that's really been there and done a good job," Paterno said.

Last season, Anthony Morelli was the incumbent and given the job as a senior. But in retrospect, Paterno said the difference between Morelli and Clark, his backup, was as close as it is between this season's combatants.

"We probably had them closely matched last year," Paterno said.

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