After answering several questions Thursday in Orlando, Fla. about Bobby Bowden's retirement, Joe Paterno cut the cord after the second one during Friday's Capital One Bowl Media Day at the Lasch Building.
It seems Bowden's retirement doesn't sit well with the Penn State coach, who wanted to keep the focus on his team and its New Year's Day matchup with No. 12 LSU in the Capital One Bowl.
"It's disappointing to see a colleague that you have respect for and admire and appreciate the job he's done, to be in the middle of all this turmoil as to what he should do, shouldn't do," said Paterno, who spoke with Bowden the day before he announced his retirement. "If he wanted to get out, fine, if you didn't want to get him out and they forced him out, I wouldn't be happy about that. But I don't know all the ins and outs."
Bowden will coach the Seminoles in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1 against No. 16 West Virginia, where he coached for six years starting in 1970 before going to Florida State.
Powell expected to be ready for bowl
Aside from those already ruled out with season-ending injuries, Penn State expects to have its full squad healthy to play LSU.
Wide receiver Chaz Powell, who suffered a sprained MC joint in his shoulder, has started practicing and should be OK.
Elsewhere, quarterback Daryll Clark is OK after a car accident Thursday evening in State College.
His dark green Chevy Lumina hit an SUV after the SUV pulled out in front of him.
Odrick pulling for Suh in Heisman race
Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh may be a long shot for the Heisman Memorial Trophy, but his impact this season is forcing people to take notice of the men in the trenches.
Jared Odrick, Penn State's own difference maker at defensive tackle, hopes his counterpart on the D-line wins the Heisman on Saturday.
"The more accolades he gets, the more the D-tackle position gets respect in terms of how much a key part they play in the defense," Odrick said. "People overlook it cause they don't score touchdowns. They don't have receiving or rushing yards or passing yards."
Odrick was named Big Ten defensive player of the year by the coaches.
"I wasn't in shock where, 'Oh my God I can't believe this happened. They got the wrong guy' or something like that," he said. "It's not like I was sitting there waiting, looking at my watch, 'When are they gonna call for the player of the year award?' It was definitely a huge honor just to see the coaches realize what type of role I have to play within my defense and what I faced all year."
