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1 Ice cream flavor (Peachy Paterno) named in JoePa's honor at Penn State Creamery | 2 National championships the Nittany Lions have won under him (1982, '86) | 3 Outback Bowl appearances the Lions have made under him (1996, '99, '07) | 4 Coaches Tennessee (Penn State's Outback Bowl foe) has had during his tenure in Happy Valley | 5 Paterno children |
| 6 Fiesta Bowl victories (against no losses) the Lions have enjoyed under him | 7 Undefeated regular seasons the Lions have had under him | 8 Current Big Ten ranking for Penn State in total offense (347.4 ypg) | 9 Current Big Ten ranking for Penn State in scoring offense (22.5 ppg) | 10 Sacks and interceptions (five each) the Nittany Lions tallied against Miami's Vinny Testaverde in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl triumph, giving Paterno his second national title |
| 11 U.S. presidential administrations his career at Penn State (as coach and assistant) has spanned | 12 Nittany Lions linebackers to earn first-team All-America status under him | 13 Top-five finishes (in at least one major poll) the Lions have had under him | 14 Interceptions he made as a cornerback at Brown, still a school record | 15 Grandchildren he has, and New Year's Day bowl victories |
| 16 Age of Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer when Paterno won his first game as Lions coach | 17 Approximate price in dollars, including sales tax, of a pair of "Joe Must Go" boxer shorts available at www.firejoepaterno.com | 18 Career 100-yard rushing games by ex-Lions RB Curt Warner, a school record | 19 10-win seasons Penn State has had under him | 20 Monthly high school tuition (in dollars) for him, forcing him to nearly drop out |
| 21 Posteason wins for him, a Division I record | 22 Jersey number of John Cappelletti, Paterno's lone Heisman Trophy winner | 23 First-team Academic All-Americans the Lions have produced under him | 24 Average number of tissues needed for screening of Something for Joey, a made-for-TV movie about Cappelletti's relationship with his cancer-stricken younger brother | 25 Wins he has recorded against West Virginia, his most frequent victim |
| 26 Points his team scored in the 1999 Outback Bowl, a 26-14 win against Kentucky | 27 Age (and current jersey number) of ex-Lions tailback Larry Johnson, a 2,000-yard rusher in 2002 | 28 Points Lions scored in less than four minutes during a second-half rally of 42-17 rout of Tennessee in the '92 Fiesta Bowl | 29 NFL first-round draft picks who played for him | 30 Median IQ (we're guessing) of supporters of www.firejoe paterno.com |
| 31 Jersey number of two-time first-team All-America linebacker Paul Posluszny | 32 Minus rushing yardage No. 5-ranked Maryland sustained in 27-3 loss to his No. 2-ranked team in 1978 | 33 Bowl games the Lions have played in under him | 34 Yards of Craig Fayak's field goal with 58 seconds remaining, lifting the Lions to 24-21 upset of No. 1-ranked Notre Dame in 1990 | 35 Lions who have earned Academic All-America status under him |
| 36 Consecutive starts by Posluszny entering the Outback Bowl | 37 Consecutive nonlosing seasons (1965-2002) he experienced (all but one as head coach) at Beaver Stadium | 38 Sacks tallied by Penn State this season, second-most in the Big Ten | 39Age when he won his first game, 15-7 against Maryland (Sept. 17, 1966) | 40 Years a coach would need, based on nine wins a year, to near his career total |
| 41 Years he has been the Nittany Lions' head coach | 42 Years Florida coach Urban Meyer has been alive | 43 Days Penn State will have gone without playing when it meets Tennessee in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 | 44 Years he has been married to wife Sue | 45 Victories Penn State has this decade (2000-present) |
| 46 Age of Beaver Stadium, home to Nittany Lions football | 47 Yards of fourth-quarter TD pass from Todd Blackledge to Greg Garrity in the '83 Sugar Bowl, lifting Penn State past Georgia 27-23 for his first national title | 48 Passes thrown by Kentucky's Tim Couch in a loss to Penn State in the '99 Outback Bowl | 49 Age when he won his 100th game, 41-21 against North Carolina State (Nov. 6, 1976) | 50 Approximate number of times ESPN's cameras are expected to pan on him at the Outback Bowl |
| 51Age when Penn State achieved its first No. 1 ranking, Nov. 13, 1978 | 52 Receptions tallied in 1994 by former Outback Bowl MVP Bobby Engram, arguably Paterno's greatest receiver | 53 Penn State's net passing yards in its 14-10 win against Miami in the '87 Fiesta Bowl | 54 Years Eddie Robinson, a Paterno contemporary, coached at Grambling | 55 Average graduation rate of Division I-A football teams. Penn State's is 83, third-highest in the country, according to figures released last week |
| 56 Age of Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer, Paterno's counterpart in the '07 Outback Bowl | 57 Years he has coached at Penn State, including 16 as an assistant | 58 Library branches in Brooklyn, Paterno's birthplace | 59 Years since Jackie Robinson broke into the majors in Paterno's hometown, with the Dodgers | 60 Age when he won his 200th game, 45-19 against Bowling Green (Sept. 5, 1987) |
| 61 Nittany Lions players to earn first-team All-America status under him | 62 Age when his autobiography (Paterno: By the Book) was published | 63 Solo tackles recorded by Lions All-America linebacker Shane Conlan in 1986, the year Paterno won his second national title | 64 Age of the Nittany Lion shrine, sculpted from a 13-ton block of Indiana limestone | 65 Yards Penn State drove in the last 1:18 to rally for a 27-24 win against No. 2 Nebraska in the epic 1982 game |
| 66 His age when Penn State entered the Big Ten in 1993 | 67.2 Bowl winning percentage (21-10-1) for him entering the Outback | '68 Year he recorded his first undefeated season at Penn State | '69 Year he recorded his second undefeated season at Penn State | 70 Viewers, in millions, who tuned into the '87 Fiesta Bowl between Penn State and Miami, breaking the record for a college football telecast |
| 71 Age when he won his 300th game, 48-3 against Bowling Green (Sept. 12, 1998) | 72 Four-year graduation percentage of Penn State's African-American players entering school in 1997-98, 25 percent higher than the national average | 73 Points team has totaled in the second quarter this season, its best-scoring period | 74.8 Career winning percentage for him entering the Outback Bowl (362-121-3) | 75 Career winning percentage for him entering this season |
| 76 Approximate years since Penn State altered its blue-and-white uniforms (or so it seems) | 77 Age of Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who leads Paterno 365-362 for the all-time victories record by a Division I coach | 78 Age when he was named Associated Press coach of the year after the 2005 season | 79 Approximate times he is expected to be asked about his age during Outback Bowl week | 80 Age he turns today |
In honor of Penn State coach Joe Paterno's 80th birthday (today) and impending arrival to Tampa (Saturday) for the Outback Bowl preparations, we look at his expansive career by the numbers.
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[Last modified December 20, 2006, 23:33:17]
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