Penn State’s off-field issues keep mounting for Paterno

An on-campus fight Saturday night may have involved some Nittany Lions.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Off-the-field issues are mounting at Penn State.

Less than a week after running back Austin Scott was suspended for violating a team rule, coach Joe Paterno said Tuesday that he was looking into the possibility that some Nittany Lions may have been involved in a fight.

The questions come months after Paterno, angry about an April fight involving football players, punished the entire team by making the players pick up garbage the day after games at Beaver Stadium.

“I’ve been alerted there might have been a couple football players involved in a fight. To what extent, to what degree, what happened, I’m not quite sure yet,” Paterno said when asked whether players were involved in a weekend altercation.

“Until I find out what’s going on, I think I’d be better off just not getting into that,” Paterno said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.

Tyrone Parham, the assistant university police director, declined to comment on whether any football players were under investigation for any weekend incidents.

“We can’t confirm anyone’s affiliation with Penn State,” Parham said. “We don’t confirm anything until a person is charged.”

A university police log shows the agency is investigating a call early Sunday from the student union that concerned an alleged assault, harassment and disorderly conduct. The call came in at 1:45 a.m. — nearly seven hours after Penn State (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) defeated Iowa.

Between five and 10 people may have been involved in an altercation at a party sponsored by a student organization and attended by several hundred people, Parham said.

One person suffered a bloody nose and was treated at the scene, and police were trying to identify “who was pulling people off of one another, who was involved in the fighting and who was just standing around being a witness,” Parham added.

University police were handling that investigation in normal fashion, Penn State vice president Bill Mahon said.

Paterno grew agitated after being peppered with questions about off-field concerns. Asked if he was concerned about the image of the program, JoePa immediately said, “No. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the image of the program. We have a bunch of great kids.”

Paterno said “85 to 90 percent” of his players graduate. “Again, you guys are trying to create some problem that I don’t believe we have, period,” he said. “It’s a waste of my time and your time.”