Penn State football coach Joe Paterno reclaimed a portion of the all-time major-college football win record last weekend, as the Nittany Lions' 66-10 thrashing of Coastal Carolina marked the 373rd victory of his career.
That tied Paterno with Florida State's Bobby Bowden atop the wins' list. But the 81-year-old Paterno had little time to savor the accomplishment.
Tuesday night, a campus police search turned up a small amount of marijuana in an on-campus apartment where four Penn State football players live. While charges had yet to be filed as of this writing, Paterno held all four players — defensive end Maurice Evans, defensive tackle Abe Koroma, tight end Andrew Quarless and defensive back A.J. Wallace — out of practice Wednesday.
Thursday evening, Paterno appeared on his weekly call-in radio show and said Evans, Koroma and Quarless will not play against Oregon State this week.
The 19th-ranked Nittany Lions play host to the Beavers at Beaver Stadium Saturday.
"If they did something as dumb as it appears they did — and I'm not sure if they did or didn't — even being close to that kind of thing, I'm not gonna play any one of those kids this week,” Paterno said. He also said he will re-evaluate the situation next week when he gets more facts.
Paterno said Wallace will play against Oregon State: “Wallace was not part of that.”
Sources say Wallace practiced Thursday but Evans, Koroma and Quarless did not.
Evans and Koroma are both starters. Quarless is a second-team with significant starting experience.
In related news, Paterno said cornerback Willie Harriott has been kicked off the team for unspecified reasons.
“I was hoping Harriott would come along, but Willie got himself into a jam,” Paterno said.
He added that with Harriott out, true freshman D'Anton Lynn will come out of a redshirt.
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