Almost a Hollow Feeling Around These Legends

Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, two of the greatest coaches of this or any generation, finished the weekend a bit closer to the end of their careers.

This is foremost a statement about mortality; these icons can’t go on forever, no matter how much they think they can and no matter how much they fight back time.

Paterno turns 76 in December, Bowden clocks birthday No. 73 in less than two weeks and for, the moment, both men are stuck.

Penn State’s third loss of the season left Paterno in a holding pattern at 332 victories, and Florida State’s third loss of the season left Bowden four wins behind at 328.

There were times Bowden and Paterno went years without combining for six losses. Both giants have eclipsed Bear Bryant’s major college mark of 323 and, at some point, you wonder what’s left to achieve.

You see Paterno working, almost like a bantamweight, fighting out of the corner trying to win back what was lost after the first consecutive losing seasons in his illustrious career.

You sense Paterno wanting desperately to get Penn State back on top before he steps away, not wanting to become another Eddie Robinson at Grambling, and you sense he thought this was the year to do it, only to have his retooling plan unravel with two overtime losses and, then, Saturday’s oh-so-close, 13-7 loss to No. 6 Ohio State.

Paterno has for decades been college football’s conscience, yet, this season, out of obvious exasperation, he has lashed out in peculiar and acceptable (for others) ways.

After an overtime loss to Iowa, he chased referee Dick Honig out of the stadium and physically touched him to protest a botched call. Nothing malicious, mind you, and no one, including Honig, took offense.

But then came an overtime loss to Michigan, after which Paterno complained about a possible regional bias because some in the officiating crew resided in Ann Arbor.

Other coaches in other conferences have been held accountable for making similar comments -- Utah’s Ron McBride, this year, to name one -- yet Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney has been conspicuous by his silence.

Saturday, against Ohio State, Paterno had another beef with the officials. Another tough loss. Another debatable call.

Are these emotions to be expected in a season tinged by three excruciating defeats, or are they the signs of slippage?

By comparison, Bowden appears in even worse shape at Florida State. He expected this to be a rebound year after last year’s four-loss campaign, the first time since 1987 the Seminoles didn’t finish ranked in the top five.

Yet, after Saturday’s 34-24 loss to Notre Dame, Florida State is, in Bowden’s word, “bumfuzzled.” The offense has been mistake-prone and sloppy. Against the Irish, the Seminoles had a tough time getting plays to the huddle.

“This game throws us back into the question mark category,” Bowden said. “Had we won this ballgame, I think I would have felt like we were back where we were.”

Truth is, Florida State has for a year been downgraded from dynasty status. It didn’t help that two of Bowden’s top assistants, Chuck Amato and Mark Richt, have taken their insights elsewhere. Interesting, isn’t it, that Amato has led North Carolina State to a 9-0 record, and Richt has Georgia at 8-0.

Bowden, the mentor to both men, is 5-3.

And then there was the matter of Bowden’s unfortunate slip of the tongue Saturday, when he described Notre Dame as “serial killers” at a time when a nation was exhaling over events in the Washington area.

Bowden quickly issued an apology, but his original comments already were circulating on the wire services. Bowden already had taken criticism, unwarranted, for using the term “Let’s Roll” as inspiration for the season.

There remains time to salvage these respective seasons, and the competition continues. Paterno, who leads all coaches with 20 bowl wins, is one victory from becoming bowl eligible. Bowden, who ranks second on the bowl list with 18, can still claim the watered-down Atlantic Coast Conference title and go to a BCS game.

But the bowls in play here are not the Fiesta, site of this year’s national title game.

Meanwhile, some of these things with Paterno and Bowden are starting to add up, unfortunately more quickly than two legends are piling up victories.

Weekend Wrap

The second bowl championship series rankings are going to be released today, and there’s a chance Notre Dame, No. 3 in last week’s BCS, could jump Miami for the No. 2 spot. Or, it could happen next week. Miami remained at No. 1 in both the writers’ and coaches’ polls Sunday, but Notre Dame has used its No. 1 strength of schedule and a strong showing in the computer component to put Miami on the BCS bubble.

The BCS may not be able to survive a scenario in which Oklahoma, Miami and Notre Dame end the season undefeated and the Irish edge out the Hurricanes for a spot.

What has Miami done to deserve such a fate? The Hurricanes have won 29 consecutive games and have been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for a record 21 weeks.

Miami has not lost a football game since September 2000, yet the Hurricanes might be taken down by a computer for the second time in three years?

So when is the big game between Ohio State (9-0) and Iowa (8-1) for the Big Ten title? Sorry, the game between conference leaders is not on this year’s calendar, meaning Ohio State will go to the Rose Bowl if both schools go undefeated in conference play based on better nonconference record. Unless, that is, Ohio State ends up playing for the national title in the Fiesta Bowl.

In a modern-day twist to “Win one for the Gipper,” Arkansas players dedicated Saturday’s 48-28 victory over Mississippi to fellow player Jermaine Brooks, arrested this week on drug and weapons charges. Now, if that doesn’t put a lump in your throat.

Late-night wins by Arizona State and Washington State set up a showdown of undefeated Pacific 10 Conference schools Saturday in Pullman, Wash. Just the way you had it figured, right?