ROSE BOWL / DAILY REPORT : Paterno May Do Some Gawking, but Will Try to Take Game in Stride

This is only Penn State Coach Joe Paterno’s second visit to a Rose Bowl game. The first was in 1971, when he stopped in Pasadena en route to Honolulu to coach in the Hula Bowl game and watched Stanford upset Ohio State, 27-17.

He doesn’t think he will be awed by the experience of coaching in the game.

“When we first walk into the stadium, I’ll gawk around and say, ‘Holy smoke, we’re in the Rose Bowl,’ ” he said. “But when the game starts, it will be just like when I was playing at Brooklyn Prep with 2,000 people watching. I won’t even know there are people in the stands.”

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Since Pacific 10 and Big Ten representatives began meeting in the Rose Bowl in 1947, Pac 10 teams have a 25-23 edge. But Penn State is attempting to give the Big Ten its first three-game winning streak in the game since it won six in a row between 1954 and ’59. Michigan beat Washington, 38-31, in 1993, and Wisconsin beat UCLA, 21-16, last year. Starting in 1970, the Pac 10 won 16 of the next 18, but the Big Ten has won four of the last seven.

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Penn State and Oregon were both coached by Hugo Bezdek in their first Rose Bowl games, the Ducks in a 14-0 victory over Penn in 1917 and the Lions in a 14-3 loss to USC in 1923. In subsequent Rose Bowl game appearances, the Ducks lost to Harvard, 7-6, in 1920 and Ohio State, 10-7, in 1958.

Penn State has not been back to the game until this season, which might explain its fans appetite for it.

“I’ve never had as many people get to me about tickets as for this game,” Paterno said. “There’s enthusiasm for the Rose Bowl that I can’t describe.”

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Penn State and Oregon have met three times. The Lions won, 41-12, in the 1960 Liberty Bowl game and, 17-7, at Eugene, Ore., in 1963. Oregon won, 22-14, at State College, Pa., in 1964. Paterno was an assistant to Penn State Coach Rip Engle in all three games. . . . The teams have two common opponents this season. Oregon beat Iowa, 40-18, and USC, 22-7. Penn State beat Iowa, 61-21, and USC, 38-14. . . . Penn State is attempting to become the first Big Ten team to finish with an unblemished record since national champion Ohio State in 1968. . . . So as not to risk being called colorful, the Lions will not wear the traditional Rose Bowl patch on their plain blue and white uniforms.