Even when John Cappelletti wore blue and white, Joe Paterno dealt with players who found trouble "very severely and very quickly most of the time," the former Nittany Lion said.
Cappelletti, Penn State's only Heisman Trophy winner, said he hopes Paterno is getting back to the approach Cappelletti remembers.
"The temptations are there," Cappelletti said. "You've got to decide for yourself. When we were in school, we could go drink, we could go party or we could toe the line and do the right stuff and be part of the team and have some fun and win some games."
Cappelletti -- whose acceptance speech dedicated to his dying brother became part of Heisman lore -- starred on the 1973 team that was honored during halftime of Saturday's 45-14 thrashing of Oregon State.
Paterno has often referenced the changing times surrounding Penn State football now compared to the early stages of his career. If a player got himself into trouble years ago, Paterno has said police would call him, he would bring the player to his home and run him in the morning.
The public would never know.
Today, though, the public knows almost instantly.
Such was the case Tuesday night when Penn State Police said they found a "small amount" of marijuana at Nittany Apartment 5204. A search warrant that cited university housing records indicated defensive end Maurice Evans, defensive tackle Abe Koroma, tight end Andrew Quarless and cornerback A.J. Wallace were the most recent tenants.
Koroma and Evans did not dress for Saturday's game. Paterno said Thursday night on his radio show Quarless would not suit up but later changed his mind, though Quarless did not play.
Paterno also said Wallace would play, but Wallace saw his role significantly reduced. He was replaced by redshirt freshman Drew Astorino in the nickel defense until the fourth quarter, and Wallace's only action to that point came on special teams.
"I think there has to be a consistency there that this is all about the team, and if you're gonna go outside the team and embarrass the team and yourself and your family and your university, there's a consequence," Cappelletti said.
Paterno was largely evasive about the status of Evans, Koroma, Quarless and Wallace. He responded to a question about Quarless dressing by asking how he looked, and he brushed aside an attempt to clarify if Evans and Koroma might return at some point this season by saying he hasn't thought about it.
Penn State sports information director Jeff Nelson wrote in an e-mail Sunday afternoon that he had no new information.
Though no charges have been filed in the incident, Paterno acted swiftly in leveling Koroma's and Evans' punishment two days after Penn State Police found the marijuana.
Paterno also quickly kicked defensive back Willie Harriott off the team after police charged Harriott with driving with a suspended license, his third legal issue since coming to Penn State.
In July, defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor were removed from the team days after a report on ESPN's Outside the Lines called national attention to various off-the-field issues. Paterno said at media day in August his response was unrelated to the report.
"I don't know whether I reacted faster for this one or slower for this one than what I did two years ago, four years, I don't know," Paterno said Saturday. "I just reacted the way I thought I should do it. It may turn out I'm wrong, I don't know. ... You've gotta make decisions. Somebody's gotta make a decision at some point."
Defensive lineman Jared Odrick described enjoying college years while being a football player at a major university as a "tricky balance."
"What we have here and what we have going on ... is something special and we shouldn't take it for granted," Odrick said. "We need to be smart, and I think a lot of us have been smart."
