Paterno Has Plenty of Time, but Couch Doesn’t

TAMPA, Fla. — Give Penn State Coach Joe Paterno more than a month to find a way to stop an opponent and usually he can.

Paterno thought the Nittany Lions could beat Kentucky by making quarterback Tim Couch think about more than whether he’s going make himself eligible for this year’s NFL draft.

No. 22-ranked Penn State grounded Couch and Kentucky’s potent passing attack in the final three quarters of the Outback Bowl for a 26-14 victory Friday. It was the Nittany Lions’ first game since a Nov. 28 victory over Michigan State.

Couch, playing perhaps his final college game, threw for two first-quarter touchdowns and completed 30 of 48 passes for 337 yards. But he also had two passes intercepted and was sacked six times.

“A couple of things we did confused him,” Paterno said. “We thought if we could make him think a little, we could get the rush to him.”

Paterno, the winningest coach in bowl history, improved his postseason record to 19-9-1. His 29th appearance in 33 seasons at Penn State ties him with Bear Bryant for first on the career list.

Kevin Thompson passed for a 56-yard touchdown to Joe Nastasi, Chafie Fields scored on a 19-yard reverse and Travis Forney kicked an Outback Bowl-record four field goals for Penn State (9-3). The Nittany Lions also rushed for 233 yards, including 105 by Eric McCoo.

But the story of the game was the Penn State defense, which was ranked 12th nationally and led the Big Ten with 47 sacks. Courtney Brown, with seven tackles and two sacks, was voted the game’s most valuable player.

Penn State mixed coverages and unleashed a relentless pass rush after falling behind, 14-3, when Couch had touchdown passes of 36 yards to Lance Mickelsen and 16 yards to Anthony White.

“We did a lot of different things with the coverages,” Paterno said. “There’s no way you can keep giving the same look to a quarterback as good as Tim.”

Kentucky (7-5), playing in a New Year’s Day game for the first time since the 1952 Cotton Bowl, had the nation’s second-most productive passing game this season with Couch throwing for 4,275 yards and 36 touchdowns.