It’s a Bear of a Job at This Age

The two behemoths have combined for 145 years, 637 victories and 70 seasons as head football coaches.

Both are on track this year to eclipse Bear Bryant’s all-time major college victory mark of 323.

They are also ... at crossroads?

In talk-radio trouble?

Ripe to be second-guessed and nudged toward the door?

The country song might be titled “The Ballad of Bobby/Joe.”

Bobby is Florida State’s Bobby Bowden.

Joe is Penn State’s Joe Paterno.

They are remarkable, durable, fascinating, unimpeachable coaching legends.

Yet, we can’t remember when Bowden and Paterno have entered a season more vulnerable.

Penn State’s plight has been building. Paterno is coming off a 5-7 wobble, only the second losing season he has suffered since becoming coach in 1966. The Nittany Lions are unranked and trotting out a new quarterback, Matt Senneca, for Saturday’s home opener against Miami, a national title contender.

Paterno has 322 career wins, one shy of Bryant’s mark, while Bowden is eight off the pace at 315.

“McGwire and Sosa,” Bowden said Wednesday of the chase. “The bad news is I’m Sosa.”

Paterno hopes this will be a bounce-back year, but no one is taking bets. Penn State has not posted consecutive losing years since 1931-32.

“Let me put it this way,” Paterno said of his team, “I’m very anxious to see them perform.”

Bowden’s troubles are more circumstantial. A trip to the national title game last year could hardly be construed as a drop-off, while Florida State’s string of 14 consecutive seasons of 10 wins or more is one of sports’ more remarkable streaks.

Bowden is a cinch to notch career win No. 316 Saturday at hapless Duke.

Yet, since its 13-2 loss to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, vaunted Florida State has been knocked off kilter.

“There’s a lot of apprehension,” Bowden said Wednesday.

* Mark Richt, the offensive coordinator, left to become coach at Georgia. Richt was replaced by Jeff Bowden, Bobby’s son, but not without a fight because of the school’s nepotism rules. At one point Bobby considered retirement: “Maybe I should get out so he could get promoted.”

* Jared Jones, the one-time heir to Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Chris Weinke, was kicked off the team and transferred to Oregon State.

* Joe Mauer, the Seminoles’ top quarterback recruit out of Minnesota, chose to play baseball after being the No. 1 selection in this year’s amateur draft.

* Devaughn Darling, a promising linebacker, collapsed and died during spring conditioning.

* Three Florida State receivers have blown gaskets in the last three weeks. Anquan Boldin, a gifted athlete in the Peter Warrick mold, and Robert Morgan are sidelined for the season because of knee injuries, while Willie Reid is sidelined at least six weeks because of a broken leg.

“We’re down to where we can’t stand any more,” Bowden said of the injuries.

* Chris Rix takes over behind center, the first Florida State freshman to start at quarterback for Bowden since Chip Ferguson in 1985.

No opponent is taking pity.

Florida State still oozes with talent, although much of it is untested.

This is the year many think Florida State’s stranglehold on the Atlantic Coast Conference will be tested. The Seminoles are 70-2 since joining the conference.

We’ll soon see.

Neither Bowden nor Paterno shows signs of slowing down or giving quarter.

Bowden turns 72 in November, Paterno celebrates No. 75 a month later.

The coaching end is coming for both, and college football will be worse for it.

Paterno says he’ll know when it’s time.

“I’ll tell [wife] Sue, ‘Let’s go to Italy--or back to Brooklyn,’ either one of those countries is good enough for me,” he said playfully on Penn State media day.

Beyond the Xs and O’s, Paterno and Bowden have also had to deal with emotional struggles.

Paterno was deeply affected by the hit at Ohio State last year that left freshman cornerback Adam Taliaferro temporarily paralyzed from the neck down. The happy news is that Taliaferro is walking again.

Bowden had to cope with the death of a player.

“The death, the death,” Bowden said. “I don’t know if coaches are like me, but I’m getting scared to death. If a kid even looks sick to me, I want him out of there.”

With the prospect looming of another subpar season, Paterno has turned introspective.

A voracious reader, Paterno retraced his literary roots, revisiting Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” and the works of Joseph Conrad.

It was Conrad who wrote, “I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more--the feeling that I could last forever, outlast the seas, the earth, and all men.”

You understand how Paterno might relate.

“I think I learned a little bit about myself,” Paterno said. “I’ve been able to reevaluate some things.”

Paterno says he is big-picture pondering “so you don’t get all caught up in what people are saying about you, and what people are trying to get out of you.”

All Penn State has gotten out of Paterno is victories.

Except for last year.

One giant watches over another.

“I’m anxious to see how he comes back this year,” Bowden said Paterno. “I think he will.”

Hurry-Up Offense

Nevada Las Vegas opens the season tonight on ESPN with what should be an interesting visit to Arkansas at Little Rock. The Razorbacks didn’t have payback in mind when this game was booked, but “Soooooie” revenge is the operative word in the wake of UNLV’s 31-14 victory over Arkansas in last year’s Las Vegas Bowl.

“I think they originally thought it was a warmup for their game with Tennessee,” UNLV Coach John Robinson said this week. “But from all we hear, they’re quite aroused and we’re going to get quite a welcome.”

Robinson’s squad, led by star quarterback Jason Thomas, should be better than last year’s 8-5 team, but surviving September is going to be a chore: at Arkansas, Northwestern, Colorado State, at Arizona, Brigham Young.

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More ESPN: The network has to be rooting hard for a Penn State upset of Miami. If that happens, Paterno’s first chance to eclipse Bryant’s all-time victory mark will come Sept. 13, a Thursday night ESPN game at Virginia.

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Marketing campaign wars: Oregon may be onto something. Not only has it plastered a poster of quarterback Joey Harrington on a Manhattan building, it has infiltrated California with two additional posters: one of tailback Maurice Morris on a Los Angeles freeway billboard and another of cornerback Rashad Bauman on the Bay Bridge. On another front, lowly Rutgers is set to launch a promotional poster foray Dec. 1 in south Florida, University of Miami territory. First-year Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano is a former Miami assistant.

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News item: The University of Central Florida, which produced Daunte Culpepper, has sent out letters saying it wants to be known as UCF on second reference, not Central Florida.

Reaction: No problem; we’ll e-mail Southern Cal to inform the Trojans of the change.

News item: Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez, commenting on running back Anthony Davis’ 147-yard rushing day against Virginia at rain-soaked Camp Randall Stadium. “[Davis] said, ‘My shoes are water-logged.’ So we got him some new shoes.”

Reaction: Let’s hope Wisconsin paid retail this time.

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Early review of the Big 12: shaky. The conference touted as the nation’s best didn’t look like it on opening weekend. In Lincoln, Nebraska ho-hummed its way to a 21-7 victory over Dennis Franchione-less, LaDanian Tomlinson-less Texas Christian. Startling stat: The Nebraska offense gave up 15 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Oklahoma capitalized on five first-half turnovers to build a huge lead on North Carolina, then held on for a 41-27 victory. Startling stat: Nate Hybl, taking over for Josh Heupel, had no touchdown passes, had an interception returned for a score and attempted no passes downfield. Let’s hope the Sooners were holding something back.

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On this week’s Big Ten coaches’ conference call, Northwestern Coach Randy Walker said he could not, for legal reasons, address the Aug. 3 death of Rashidi Wheeler. Walker read a statement, saying in part, “I want to continue, as well as the team, to honor the memory of Rashidi Wheeler.”

Later in the call, Walker added in his own words, “I don’t know you ever get over something like this, or get away from the grief and the grieving process. But my faith calls for me to go forward.”

Walker added that while he continues to pray for the Wheeler family, which has filed a lawsuit against Northwestern, he said, “I also know that I’ve been hired to do a job and it’s to coach this football team.”

Northwestern opens the season at UNLV on Sept. 7.

More on the Bear Bryant record chase. Check out the lifetime records of the three coaches in this equation. Bryant was 323-85-17. Paterno is 322-90-3. Bowden is 315-87-4. All three have lifetime winning percentages of 78%.

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Texas wins again! No, not the national championship--the media-guide war. This year’s guide checks in at a glossy, gaudy 568 pages. Then again, what did you expect from Texas?