Penn State players, coaches finally get a breather

MADISON, Wis. - The Nittany Lions had hoped to be playing in six days for a chance at the Big Ten title. But now they likely won't play their next game for more than a month, if at all.

With the conclusion of Penn State's regular season - marked by a 45-7 whupping at the hands of Wisconsin here on Saturday - a month of uncertainty looms. What happens next is anyone's guess.

Some question if Penn State will be picked to play in a bowl game at all because of the negative publicity involving the child sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the university. The future of Penn State's coaching staff is also unknown.

Interim head coach Tom Bradley, who noted this is an unprecedented situation in college football, said he's going to give his team a week off from football. He will talk to his players in a meeting Sunday, but said he would not make anything mandatory this coming week.

A week remains until bowls make selections and it likely would be a month before Penn State plays in one.

"I think a week away from everybody won't hurt us," Bradley said. "I think they need some time to themselves to regather. It may be good for them to reenergize the batteries a little bit."

As has been seen over the last three weeks, a lot can change in that amount of time. The scandal involving former assistant Jerry Sandusky that is making headlines across the country does not appear to be going away anytime soon.

However, the Lions are hopeful they will be able to block out any potential distractions.

"I'll just try not to talk about that or think about that, try not to let that affect me," linebacker Nate Stupar said. "There's no point in thinking about it because it doesn't affect our team. It has nothing to do with our team."

Many of the players said they will use the next week to rest and get rid of the bumps and bruises that come with a long football season. With final exams beginning Dec. 12, offensive coordinator Galen Hall said he hopes players will put extra focus on academics and let go of football for a little while.

Left tackle Quinn Barham said he doesn't think it will be hard to stay focused. The senior cocaptain thinks the players have done a great job of sticking together through this season's adversity.

The coaching staff faces a unique situation. Many believe Penn State will clean house at season's end, leaving the current coaches seeking new jobs. If that's the case, some will be on the road next week recruiting players they likely won't coach.

Without a game this Saturday, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said Sunday might be the first day he has time to reflect on everything that's occurred the last three weeks. His father, legendary former coach Joe Paterno, was fired Nov. 9 in the fallout from the scandal. The following week, the 84-year-old Paterno was found to have lung cancer.

"I'll probably have the first day when I can kind of crash emotionally [Sunday] and think about some things. Joe's always trained us to cross those blue lines, and there's no blue line tomorrow, at least not until we get to a bowl game," Jay said.

"I'll get to sit down with my kids and kind of deal with this, because I haven't had a chance really to deal with everything that's happened."