Entering the 2002 season, few would have denied Joe Paterno the epithet "renaissance man". He and his wife Sue have personally underwritten such substantial improvements to libraries and other campus projects at Penn State that they are embarrassed to discuss their philanthropy. Though his teams have won more often than any in Division I-A history, that fact does not seem to be the most important part of the man.

Relaxation time for Joe is spent in animated conversation about ideas with other thinking people or reading such authors as Thucydides. He walks for a solid hour every day. He is lean, fit, and can be full of fun in the right setting. He leads with his mind. He refuses to be caught up in the mundane or the quick fix neuroses of our culture. He is, after all, a teacher.

Joe Paterno got into this football thing as a short-term method to get to law school. That was 53 years ago, and like a lot of us he got hooked. Unlike a lot of us, though, he is that rare serious man who does not take himself too seriously. Even at the age of 75 he is wise beyond his years.

Game Plan: No. 17 Penn State

Offense: Larry Johnson, you are the bellcow now. Lead by word and deed! WR coach Kenny Carter, keep up the blocking drills. Doss and Nickey can tackle. Spread the field and make Doss defend 1-on-1. It is not his strong suit. Defense: 48 percent conversion on 3rd down will not suffice. Get off the field! Second tackler, strip the ball from Clarett early. Make him cautious and rattled. Krenzel is improving, but will throw it up for grabs. Go up with Jenkins! Special Teams: Punt coverage team, 11.6 yards per return is too much. Lane integrity! You need two big plays to stay in this game. Be creative. Nine-of-11 field goals means good protection. This will be your sternest test. Players: Address and dismiss the poor past at Ohio Stadium. Focus on this game. Talk ball security on the bench. Keep the awareness uppermost in the uproar. Keep the crowd out of the game. You have done a good job of minimizing penalties (33 yards per game). Do not lose your poise. Coaches: Make sure the players are fresh. This has been a tough stretch. Northwestern and Wisconsin hammered OSU running the ball, but ran out of gas. Stay the course. Coach Paterno, work your magic on the Ohio Stadium jinx. Turn the tables one more time.

Pick up your local paper today, turn to the sports page, and you are likely to read that Joe has become "The little Napoleon of the Big 10". In the view of some writers he and Athletics Director Tim Curley have become the self-styled "conscience of the Big 10". Not-so-rhetorical questions are posed about why JoePa wasn't reprimanded for "knucklehead comments."

All of this is presumed to be the upshot of a couple of bum calls by Big 10 officials that went against the Nittany Lions in their losses to Iowa and Michigan. Yes and NO. Come on guys, do you really think Joe has lost a step? Enough of your Pavlovian response! You are so anxious to see the mighty falter that you have been duped.

Close your laptops and think. Take yourself for an hour walk. Recheck your NCAA stats for victory totals. JoePa is messing with your minds, and as much fun as that is for him it is not his primary purpose.

Big 10 officiating has not been stellar this year, but Joe knows the highly respected head of officials Dave Parry will straighten that out.

Paterno has jumped out front and center, into the spotlight, taken the heat, and listened to the guffaws for one primary reason: he is teaching his team how to fight. He is teaching them once again that the essence of our sport is guts, grit, attention to detail and perseverance. He is teaching his men that life is not always pleasant, to contest every call if it is unjust. He is doing so in the only way he knows, and that is to lead. That is why this squad of only reasonable talent and depth is two plays from being undefeated.

These players watch their leader, wonder if he is sane, and follow him into the fray ready to lay it on the line all day long. Watch them play. Enjoy the gusto and confidence. Do not be deceived. One wins more games than anyone in history by knowing how to generate intensity and focus while the critics howl.

You may not like Joe, you may not agree with his methods all the time, but do not think for an instant that he isn't doing everything he does to maintain the focus of his troops. I guarantee you Jim Tressel understands.

Tressel and his undefeated Buckeyes have a distinct psychological challenge, unique in my experience. Maurice Clarett is a true freshman. He is very talented, very immature (18 years old) and is being hounded every day about possibly going to the NFL next year. I was present for the freshman appearances of Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson. As great as they were, even those two did not generate such distraction. As good as Maurice is, he is no Herschel or Bo.

One national publication featured a picture of Clarett tossing his Ohio State jersey away, presumably into a laundry bin for mere mortals. The implication would be clear to the dimmest of wits. Having shed his baby clothes, he could don the suit with the S on the chest, and zoom off to leap tall buildings without the bother of all the vicissitudes of college.

A football team is a delicate mechanism combining the balance of a gyroscope with a culture of selflessness. When the perception by the team is that one of the main cogs is becoming selfish, fissures develop quickly and performance loses that crucial razor-like efficiency.

Game Plan: No. 4 Ohio State

Offense: Get the ball to Gamble and Jenkins. They can win the game! Clarett, think only about securing the ball until it becomes second nature. Krenzel, coaches have emphasized throwing more and throwing better. Do not throw up prayers! Defense: Michael Doss, they will come after you in coverage. Be prepared. LB Matt Wilhelm, make Larry Johnson your personal project. Secondary, are you going to let Gamble, a WR, continue to lead the team in interceptions? Special Teams: P Andy Groom, you were great vs. Wisconsin. Can you maintain that? K Mike Nugent, 16-for-16 is amazing. You may be the difference in this one. Punt coverage unit, 11.8 yards per return is too much! Players: You have won eight in a row. You should have the feel by now. You have won four in a row vs. PSU at home. There is a reason for that. Doss and Nickey, be prepared for play action as well as open-field tackles. Coaches: Be careful of Gamble's energy. Make sure he has legs at the end. Reach defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio's goal of 50 percent 3-and-outs and you will win. Last week's fourth quarter was priceless. Build on that.

Tressel's task is to keep his freshman runner productive, into the team, and thinking "Buckeyes" rather than "Raiders" or "Giants." The team's responsibility is to work with the kid, understand his dilemma and accept his strange moments. Clarett's job is to become team oriented, run the ball and hang on to it, and survive his disappointments without becoming estranged. It will be a tall order.

In the Northwestern game, when he fumbled three times, he openly snapped at the head coach, wept on the sidelines, and watched stonily as teammate Lydell Ross made a nice run for a touchdown. That is dangerous stuff, and Ohio State could very well have lost the game. The tiny difference in victory and defeat is well-documented, and in the case of this Ohio State team it is in the hands and mind of a true freshman.

This game will be a brutal, physical thing and it will last all sixty minutes, maybe with a couple of overtimes tacked on. Get a ticket if you can. The Penn State game plan will be to attack, keep the opponent off balance with Zack Mills' sleight of hand and then attack some more. Ohio State's Achilles heel has been exposed more than once during this zany season, and it is there that JoePa and his shock troops will concentrate their efforts.

Northwestern and Wisconsin ran the ball down the Buckeyes' throats for long stretches, but could not maintain the pace. Paterno and his team will be aiming to do it all day long. It is the only way they can win.

Penn State leads this series 10-7 in this series but has been blown out in its last four trips to Columbus. Tressel knows he has an enormous edge in his home-field advantage, and the wily Paterno will need all his wit and presence to help his team deal with it. It is the hallmark of great football traditions that they win at home. Call this one the gift from Woody Hayes to subsequent generations.

The game within the game will be the collision of the complex personalities of the two teams. Clarett introduces the aforementioned issues but Paterno has his own challenge in record-setting tailback Larry Johnson, who was openly critical of the coaches two years ago. Joe said in his press conference last week that Johnson had learned patience, which contributed to his 257 yard rushing performance on only 23 carries vs. Northwestern. Then he said "Larry is a little moody sometimes, but then so is my wife." Maybe Joe is not as smart as I thought.

Hidden yardage study highlights startling similarities in these two fine teams. Both are plus-7 in turnover margin, each is punting the ball well, and the placekicking is superb (Ohio State's Mike Nugent is 16-for-16!). Each team's average yards per rush, yards per pass and yards per completion are winning numbers. Both defenses are stout. The poorest aspect of either team is Penn State's third-down defense. The Nittany Lions give up 48 percent conversion on that key down, and cannot win this game unless that improves immediately.

Scoring by quarter is similar in that both teams dominate the third quarter (most good teams do), and have a healthy overall margin in the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter number for Penn State is skewed somewhat in that they scored 22 points on Iowa in that quarter, only to lose the game. So Ohio State is statistically better even though they could easily have lost to Cincinnati and Northwestern. Looking beyond the numbers both of these teams have shown vulnerability late in close games, and both have found ways to survive for the most part.

ESPN college football analyst Bill Curry coached for 17 years in the college ranks. His Game Plans for marquee matchups appear each week during the college football season.