Joe Paterno needed to drive just a mile and a half to the Bryce Jordan Center to speak at a Blue-White pregame luncheon on Saturday morning.

The backlog of traffic didn't make the trip an easy one.

"The traffic was horrendous," he said.

"I didn't realize how many people would be here."

The record crowd -- estimated at 73,000 -- demonstrates how passionately Penn State fans care about their football.

Sure, the program has its share of warts. As Paterno heads into the sunset of his career, uncertainty about his long-term future, its impact on recruiting and a rash of off-the-field incidents prompt valid questions about the program's long-term stability.

For one day, at least, none of the lingering issues seemed to matter as football took center stage for the first time in four months.

The afternoon also reinforced Paterno's significance to the program, as if there was ever any doubt. In the shadows of a stadium that he practically built, the atmosphere represented fairgrounds as much as it did a football stadium.

There were gyro stands. There were Ferris wheels. And there were other amusement park rides.

The festivities were another indication of Paterno's influence. It's hard to imagine a similar atmosphere at many other universities.

"There's a lot of people that want to speculate on what life is going to be like when Joe leaves, and I don't know," Jay Paterno said. "And there are people telling me, 'Tell your dad it's time to go.' And I tell them, 'Be careful what you wish for.' "

College football history is filled with coaches who have had limited success when following in the footsteps of a legend. Former Alabama coach Bear Bryant retired 25 years ago, and the university has stumbled through eight different coaches since. Barry Switzer's successor at Oklahoma, Bo Schembechler's at Michigan and Tom Osborne's at Nebraska were all fired after no more than six seasons.

Who knows what direction Penn State's football program will take post-Paterno?

The adulation previous players have for Paterno was also on full display. Michael Robinson and Levi Brown, among others, interrupted Paterno's press conference and teased their former coach. Players like Jay Alford, Bryant Johnson, Larry Johnson, Paul Posluszny and Blair Thomas were also seen on the sidelines.

Robinson wasn't buying that Paterno is too old and too out of touch to connect with this generation.

"They've been saying that for the last 20 years," Robinson said. "People say that, but all of this wouldn't be here without Joe. You take Joe out of the equation, and this is still an agricultural school."

Instead, the small agricultural school of the 1940s has been transformed into a brand name unseen in college football. Only 20 other schools averaged more than 73,000 fans in 2006 during the regular season, yet here was Penn State matching that figure in a meaningless scrimmage.

"There are a lot of schools in the country going through the same kind of experience," Paterno said. "Is that a tribute to college football? I think to a degree it is."

And to the man responsible for building Penn State into an empire.