STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he was shocked, saddened and as surprised as everyone else to learn longtime assistant Jerry Sandusky was charged with sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period, including four years when Sandusky still was a member of the Nittany Lions staff.
“If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers,” Paterno in a statement issued Sunday evening by his son Scott.
Paterno, a Hall of Famer and the winningest coach in Division I history, is not implicated in the case.
“Joe Paterno was a witness who cooperated and testified before the grand jury,” said Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office. “He’s not a suspect.”
Sandusky retired from his assistant’s job in 1999. He is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years. Overseeing the linebackers, Sandusky coached such prominent players including Jack Ham, Shane Conlan and Matt Millen.
LSU-Alabama game a big draw
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The LSU-Alabama game drew the second-highest rating of any CBS regular-season college football broadcast since the network began tracking ratings in 1987.
The network said the No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown earned an average overnight rating/share of 11. 9/21, up 170 percent from last year’s meeting.
The highest rated CBS regular-season game was Notre Dame-Miami in 1989.
Late games.
Kellen Moore threw five touchdown passes to become college football’s winningest quarterback, and No. 5 Boise State brushed off a first-half scare from UNLV in a 48-21 victory Saturday night.
• Oregon’s LaMichael James ran for 156 yards and a touchdown, and sixth-ranked Oregon forced three key turnovers for a 34-17 win over Washington.
Footnotes.
LSU put a lock on the top spot, Oklahoma State moved up to No. 2 for the best ranking in school history, and Alabama slipped to No. 4 in The Associated Press top 25 poll.
• Georgia coach Mark Richt said freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell will return from a one-game suspension as the starter when the No. 14 Bulldogs begin practice today.
• Texas redshirt freshman running back Traylon Shead is leaving the Longhorns and will transfer to another school.
• Wyoming coach Dave Christen- sen said freshman quarterback Brett Smith, who left Saturday’s game against TCU when he had the wind knocked out of him in the fourth quarter, is expected to play next weekend when the Cowboys visit Air Force.
