High hopes, high-octane O are vindication for Paterno, Williams

That it might have taken until Saturday for it to look that way is hardly an issue now. Williams had his breakout game with 241 all-purpose yards becoming the first Paterno player to score three different ways -- rushing, receiving and returning -- in a 38-24 victory over Illinois.

"I told him about Wednesday or Thursday, 'Derrick, you're about time to break out if you get the right block in front of you,'" Paterno said. "He's always been a great athlete, a great competitor. I think he's played well. He hasn't had the opportunities to make the big plays like he did Saturday."

Advancing age inevitably means vulnerability, a decline in health. It also sometimes means wisdom and patience. A lot of us have been trying to shoo Paterno out the door for years. But aside from a brief downturn in the program from 2000-04, the cantankerous octogenarian has been able to coach, recruit and retain a loyal staff that has kept the program at or near the top.

Williams has taken all this in, noticing that his career could be bookended by Big Ten titles. In 2005 as a freshman, he was part of a team that won the Orange Bowl. Since then the Nittany Lions haven't exactly tanked.

"Before I came here we didn't really go to bowl games," Williams said. "Since I've been here we've been to a lot of major bowl games. We went from 11-1 to 9-4 to 9-4. All those games I think that I had an impact on them. I think I've had a pretty good career so far."

Getting to this point for Paterno has been a process, a long process over time that few of us noticed until now. Purdue coach Joe Tiller recalled a conversation with Paterno the first time the teams met in a conference game 11 years ago in West Lafayette.

Paterno: "You're not going throw that ball all over the field today are you?"

Tiller: "Coach, we are what we are. We're going out there and play sissy ball."

"Apparently," Tiller added. "he wants to do the same thing now."

In 2000, Purdue won a share of the Big Ten title running Tiller's famous spread. Penn State barely beat the Boilermakers that year, 22-20. But the game is also remembered for Paterno letting then-offensive coordinator Fran Ganter briefly run Rashard Casey out of the shotgun.

The Paterno who once said "I'll never feel comfortable throwing the snap through the air" was changing.

In 2005, Paterno tailored his offense around dual-threat quarterback Michael Robinson. This year Joe loosened his Eisenhower-era grip enough to let offensive coordinator Galen Hall direct a wide-open offense that is No. 4 nationally in scoring. Paterno, Tiller says, regrets not playing Clark more last season. The offense then was as mundane under Anthony Morelli as it is stimulating now. In the first four games Penn State scored 211 points, surpassing the 1994 Rose Bowl team that set the team record with 210.

It's fitting that this week's opponent is once again Purdue. Tiller, the coach who nudged Paterno into changing his offensive thinking, is coaching in his last game between two old war horses. The Purdue coach is retiring after this season, content to go fishing in Wyoming for the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, Paterno is still chasing championships.

"He's a smart man," Tiller said. "All guys named Joe are smart."

The thought continues to creep -- out of the locker room, past the State College city limits advancing around the country. That ride into the sunset for Paterno might not have a horizon.

"I definitely believe he's going to keep going," Williams said. "He still has a love for the game. There's no reason for him to stop."