For the greater part of this fall, Willie Weber and Fred Holler kept a cigar apiece in their pockets on Saturdays, ready to celebrate a big home victory for the Penn State football team.

"We said if we get a win, we're gonna sit down on the curb here and smoke a cigar," Weber said Saturday morning, before the season-ending Michigan State game. "Today, maybe, we'll have a cigar together."

Their sons play for the Penn State football team -- Pat Weber is a backup center, and Joel Holler is a reserve offensive lineman -- and, like most other parents, they loyally attend the games, week after week. And that means, too, that, again like other parents, they had to find ways to help their sons through a 4-7 season without a bowl game.

"What can you say?" Weber said. "The L's are in the column, and you're not gonna erase them."

The two tail end victories provided a great measure of relief, of course, but there was still that six-game stretch of losses in the middle -- and the final pair of wins can't erase all that.

"When you meet your son out back [of the stadium], we always go out to dinner, we take him away from it," said Keith Zemaitis, father of starting cornerback Alan Zemaitis. "We talk about things other than football, and that kind of takes his mind off it. Because it does affect him, if you just sit there and talk about the game."

For Zemaitis, there's a waiting period -- Sunday's the first day that it's OK to talk about the game -- but even then, he and his son don't analyze play-by-play, they talk casually. Chuck Kubic, father of linebacker Andy Kubic, has a bit of a different approach -- always look forward, to the next game, even the next season.

"How do you get through a losing season?" Kubic said. "Focus on the future and the fact that there's tremendous potential on this team. Their day will come."

And the thing about it is, as much as the parents feel the burden of making sure their sons are coping well, they're quick to note that, with the way this year's team handled the season, things weren't as rough as expected. There was losing to cope with, certainly, but there was also the let's-be-troopers sort of mentality that made this year a whole lot more pleasant than last.

"They feel like they're committed to each other and that helps them a lot, more than probably us helping," said Kathy Cronin, mother of safety Paul Cronin. "Each other -- they support each other."

One way or another, they made it through, anyway, and got the best possible reward for it Saturday -- the 37-13 victory over the Spartans. And for Weber and Holler, well, they got to sit down on that curb and smoke that cigar.

Day to remember

Offense: Quarterback Zack Mills. Picking otherwise would be absolutely ridiculous. He made his final "Zack Attack" a true attack and received a standing ovation because of it. It was a beautiful ending to a rough career, as the General who once captured the hearts of an entire campus captured them back, perhaps, for one last afternoon.

Defense: Safety Andrew Guman. He came back, after a chest contusion, to play in the final game of his career -- and to look as good as ever in recording 10 tackles. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley called him a "pacifier" for safeties coach Brian Norwood because he makes calls and gets everybody lined up -- that pretty much says he'll be missed.

Day to forget

The naysayers, perhaps. Or, any of the fans who ever booed Mills. And, the trash talking Michigan State offensive players -- especially since their bowl hopes are now dashed. But Saturday was not a day to forget for anybody on this team. Instead, it was the most emotional game of the season, in a good way, and, without a doubt, the nicest possible way to end a 4-7 season.

Did you notice?

The blasting of "Zombie Nation," coupled with the flashing orange "BOUNCE" on the jumbotron have now officially become Penn State's version of Wisconsin's "Jump Around" tradition ... Unfamiliar numbers darting onto the field for a snap or two during mop-up time. It was senior day, and almost every senior -- walk-on, third-string, whatever -- got to play ... The unreal amount of hugs on the Penn State sideline. The guys were overwhelmed by emotion, and it was truly touching to witness.

Quotable

Warning: this was the most absurd Joe Paterno post-game press conference in recent history.

When asked if he was bothered by the speculation about his future, Paterno somehow wound up talking about Dante: "[My wife] is in the middle of reading Dante's Club. And we're talking about the fact that Dante was gay. And she wanted to know if I knew he was gay. I said, 'Yeah, I knew he was gay.' She said, 'Did you know Beatrice in his poem was not a woman, but a man.' I said, 'Yeah, I knew that. I read Dante when I was 14 years old.' "

Then, when asked if there was any truth to the rumor that he dated Dante, Paterno fired back with this: "He's really not my style."

Extra Point

Five female coeds who usually sit in the front row of the stadium sent Paterno a letter this week, telling him to "hang in there" and asking him to stop by their seats to say hello. Paterno obliged -- and had a scouting report for the media.

"I went over there looking for them. They were kind of cute, too," he said, breaking into a mischievous grin.