It’s a rare thing when a coach can hold the reigns of a competitive college football team for almost 40 years. That’s why Joe Paterno’s 338 career victories and subsequent accomplishments as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions should be praised at every occasion. He’s an all-time great, no doubt about it.

But even all-time greats lose their touch. It has happened to the best of them. Michael Jordan lost it. Jack Nicholas found some success after his prime, but fell into the same hole. Willie Mays saw a drastic decline as he played into middle age. And as much as it pains me to say it, even the Rolling Stones have lost it.

After Penn State’s 20-14 loss to Minnesota in Happy Valley last Saturday and Paterno’s second outburst against Big Ten officials in as many seasons, it is becoming more and more evident that the game may have passed by old Joe Pa.

In dispute of a Gopher interception in the first half of Saturday’s game, Paterno ran onto the field to argue the call after the play and again at halftime. In last season’s overtime loss to Iowa, Paterno raced out onto the field and grabbed the shoulder of an official to protest another controversial call. Another disputed call went against Penn State in a loss to Michigan last season and Paterno made a call for a broad review of conference officiating.

Despite always being labeled an impassioned coach, some think Paterno has crossed the line one too many times with his assault on Big Ten officials. This and the continued falters of talented Penn State teams continue to give credence to the theory that the game has passed the great one by.

“Everybody is looking for a chink in the armor,” Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said of his counterpart Monday. “Anyplace you go, whenever someone loses they go after the coaches, they go after the players. Look at any team and any level and people are disgruntled when you lose. They said three years ago, when Penn State was having a rough go there, the same thing. [Paterno] couldn’t recruit, and recruiting had gone by him, and you look at last year’s draft and you have four in the first round, a couple in the second round. Everybody is quick to jump and everybody is quick to criticize. Joe Paterno is sharp as a tack and all you have to do is watch his teams play and see the quality of the athletes and how sound and how well coached they are.”

While the recruiting remains high caliber and the talent remains top notch, the Lions continue to lose close games that they are more than capable of pulling out. It happened against the Gophers in 1999, when LaVarr Arrington and Courtney Brown’s Lion squad squandered a national championship bid. It hasn’t been the easy cake walk the university envisioned when they joined the Big Ten in 1993. Penn Sate has only won the conference once, in 1994, a year in which the Lions won the national championship.

Despite the inconsistency and the outbursts, Paterno still knows football. During July’s Big Ten football media conference it was more than apparent that Paterno had his wits about him, quick to crack jokes about his age and more than willing to discuss his football team. No one will ever doubt his knowledge of the game, but maybe the inability of a 76 year old to relate to an 18 to 22-year-old is catching up with the old-timer.

Paterno still commands respect, and the players who start their college careers in Happy Valley sign with the school for the prestige and the honor of playing under a great one. But if the Lions continue to suffer, Paterno’s grace period gets smaller and smaller.

Sometimes you have to leave the past behind you to move ahead, and while the 76-year-old has made no mention of stopping, he continues to put large portions of his salary into the university. If the institution wants to prevent a freefall, perhaps they should make their figure head just that: a recruiting tool.

“You know, Happy Valley is a great place to play,” Jim Sorgi said. “I am going to be sure to go up and shake Joe Pa’s hand after the game because he is an idol in my mind. It is going to be a good ball game, and they’re a better team than their record shows, and I think we know that and we know not to underestimate them.”

Sorgi can’t underestimate the talent of Penn State, but Paterno’s coaching ability remains in doubt. This Penn Sate squad might not be a national contender, but it’s certainly bowl worthy on paper. Other than injuries, the success or failure of Penn State is squarely on the old-timer’s shoulders.