Joe Paterno likes to say he’s not a “numbers guy.” The only numbers that matter to him, he says, are those flashing the final score, a cliche that predates even Penn State’s 75-year-old coach.
If so, then Paterno was probably the only guy in Beaver Stadium who wasn’t thinking about the number 2,000 when Larry Johnson took the field Saturday against Michigan State for Penn State’s final regular-season game.
Johnson, the Nittany Lions’ brilliant senior tailback, needed 264 yards to become the ninth Division I-A runner to gain 2,000 yards in a season, and the first from Penn State.
He has averaged an astounding 223.4 yards in the last five games. Considering Michigan State’s porous run defense, which has allowed 197.8 yards a game, it seems the swift, powerful Johnson has a shot.
And although Johnson still appears to be a long shot to win the Heisman Trophy, the chance that he’ll be invited to Manhattan for the ceremony would increase if he were to reach the magic number. After all, five of the eight Division I-A running backs who gained 2,000 yards in a season won the Heisman: Marcus Allen (1981), Mike Rozier (1983), Barry Sanders (1988), Rashaan Salaam (1994) and Ricky Williams (1998).
Asked if he will go against his grain and give Johnson every opportunity to reach 2,000 yards, Paterno said it depends on the game’s circumstances.
“We’re going to try to win the game,” he said. “We have seniors who will be out there for the last time in Beaver Stadium, and we owe it to all of them not to do anything silly that will cause us not to play as well as we can play.
“I don’t go into any game saying we are going to give Larry the ball X number of times. I don’t do that. You go into a game to win it. If you can run the football, you run it, and some of you guys know I’d prefer to run than pass. If you can’t get the running game going, you throw the ball. Or vice versa. I really don’t think about how many yards he needs to do this.”
If Johnson gets close, Paterno will know. When he took Johnson out of the game in the fourth quarter against Illinois, Paterno was besieged by assistant coaches and players to put him back in because he was closing in on 300 yards. Paterno gave Johnson one more carry, then pulled him for fear he’d get injured. The game was already won. Johnson finished with 279 yards, a school record until he exploded for 327 last week against Indiana.
And if Johnson closes in on 2,000 against Michigan State, there will be about 108,000 fans imploring Paterno to keep giving him the ball.
The prospect of joining the exclusive 2,000 club doesn’t seem to excite Johnson. Then again, nothing does.
“It would be a nice way to cap off my senior season, but I don’t want it to distract from the game,” he said.
Nonetheless, Johnson fattened up his blockers last week by treating them to dinner at a ribs joint. He also took his younger brother, receiver Tony Johnson, who has thrown several downfield blocks for him. “Just wanted to show my appreciation for what they’ve done for me,” he said.
Johnson has broken the single-game school record three times. He also holds the single-season school record with 1,736 yards.
He leads the nation’s top 50 running backs with an average of 7.48 yards a carry. Brown is averaging 6.3.
And Johnson, who has caught 38 passes for 331 yards, leads the country in all-purpose yards with an average of 207.8 yards per game.
