Flashback to Oct. 27, 2001 -- it's a chilly day, and the Penn State football team (1-4) is down 27-9 against Ohio State. Somehow the team pulls together to come back and win 29-27, garnering Joe Paterno's record-breaking 324th win, making him the NCAA Division I-A all-time victories leader.

Forward to the present -- walking along the east side of Beaver Stadium, one will notice a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of a man with a tie and large glasses.

Of course, this isn't just any man hovering seven feet tall; it's a local legend.

Five days after his record-breaking win, the statue was installed in honor of Paterno's more than three decades as Penn State head coach. On the walls surrounding the statue are plaques that state the results of each of the games Paterno has coached since 1966.

Although most people have seen the statue, few know the full story behind it.

Angelo DiMaria, a sculptor from Reading, was commissioned to create the statue.

DiMaria had never been to a football game before.

"It felt like I was on a spaceship," he said about his first Penn State athletic experience. "It was just an incredible feeling."

DiMaria said he took 80 to 100 photographs of Paterno in various poses, and Penn State officials decided which pose they wanted him to create.

He said they narrowed the choices down to two: One option had Paterno standing with his arms crossed, contemplating the game and the other was Paterno running, which was the one finally chosen.

"It is characteristic of him running onto the field with his jacket and tie and Nikes," DiMaria said.

The statue was commissioned by a group known as Friends of Joe and Sue Paterno and also by Penn State.

Bud Meredith, director of ticket operations at the Bryce Jordan Center, has been friends with Paterno for the past 37 years.

"It's a pretty good rendering," he said, adding "without the pumpkinhead," referring to the prank pulled on Halloween, when a pumpkin was placed atop the statue.

DiMaria has been making art for more than 50 years and has also sculpted several politicians, including former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

He is a self-taught artist, currently working on a sculpture of President George W. Bush.

As exciting as his new projects are, DiMaria still enjoys talking about his first football game.

"It was an amazing experience," he said.