Penn State’s Paterno passes on BCS championship talk

Quarterback Daryll Clark is expected to play against Iowa this weekend.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Given the chance to weigh in on the BCS, Joe Paterno passed.

Come back to him at the end of the regular season if No. 3 Penn State remains undefeated and is still shut out of the national title game.

Playfully sparring with the media on Tuesday with a classic blend of humor and bluntness, the wily Paterno said he’s focused only on getting the Nittany Lions (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) ready for their final three conference games, starting with this weekend’s at Iowa.

“I want to try to get my team as ready as they can be ... with the idea that we got a tough football game and go from there,” Paterno said when asked about the scenario of a one-loss team jumping Penn State in the BCS rankings.

It was one of several questions Paterno got about the BCS at his weekly news conference at Beaver Stadium.

But Paterno, a vocal proponent of a playoff system, didn’t bite on a chance to take a shot at college football’s current postseason setup.

“Three weeks from now, three weeks from now I may jump off Rec Hall,” he deadpanned in referring to an old gym on campus. “Who knows?”

Some Penn State fans are crying foul after Texas Tech moved into second in the BCS rankings, ahead of the Nittany Lions, following the Red Raiders’ win over then top-ranked Texas last weekend.

Penn State remains third behind Alabama and Texas Tech, and the top two teams advance to play in the championship game.

The 81 year-old Paterno would love a chance to get Penn State a third title, the first two coming in 1982 and 1986. He’s also experienced the disappointment of going undefeated without a national championship four times, the last time in 1994 when the Nittany Lions finished second in the polls.

Now, Penn State may find itself in the same predicament again if Alabama and Texas Tech win out.

“In ’94, the problem was not with me personally. It’s a question of a bunch of kids who do everything you ask them to do, and then at the end they don’t get what they deserve.

“Yeah, I’d be disappointed,” he added. “There again, what am I going to do?”

A bye last weekend allowed the Nittany Lions a chance to catch the Texas Tech-Texas game and rest their aches and pains.

It was especially beneficial for quarterback Daryll Clark, the Ursuline High graduate who was pulled in the fourth quarter of the Oct. 25 win at Ohio State after suffering a mild concussion. Paterno said the eager Clark is back at practice and should be ready for the Hawkeyes.