[media-credit name=’Derek Montgomery’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Every time that Penn State head coach Joe Paterno comes to Madison, one question invariably crosses the minds of true Madison football fans: will this be the legend’s last visit?

Calling Paterno an icon in college football is something of an understatement. For 54 years (and 607 games) Paterno has defined the NCAA gridiron. He’s racked up five perfect seasons in that time, won 339 games and won 20 bowl games (five more, for the record, than the UW has competed in).

But there are certain voices around the country that are whispering that it’s time for Paterno to move on. The Nittany Lions have won nine games just once in the past four seasons and — in spite of the fact that they won at least nine games in nine out of 10 seasons before that — the anxiety level of fans jumping off the Paterno bandwagon is reaching a fevered pitch.

UW head coach Barry Alvarez, for one, does not count himself among Paterno’s doubters.

“The man is an icon,” Alvarez said. “I still believe he’s on top of his game. You know, a couple years ago those same questions were asked and then, you know, you heard he couldn’t recruit; he couldn’t do this or that. That same year he had four guys taken in the first round [of the NFL draft].”

This year Paterno’s squad looks as if it might be set up for another mediocre finish.

Though they handily defeated Wisconsin’s first week opponent, UCF, last weekend, PSU has one bad loss under its belt against a decent — but hardly intimidating — Boston College squad.

The main problem for Penn State is the consistency of its best players. Quarterback Zack Mills is one of the most dynamic talents in all of college football. He can be used to rush the ball, to pass the ball and — as he proved against Akron — to receive the ball. But he can also be counted on to make at least a couple mental mistakes every game; he has turned the ball over 10 times (six interceptions and four fumbles) in the past two games alone.

Though he is mainly slotted as a tailback or a receiver, Michael Robinson gives Paterno another dynamic option at quarterback. As a red-shirt sophomore last season, Robinson posted 398 yards of total offense against the Badgers. He leads the Nittany Lions in receiving this season and is third on the team in rushing.

Relatively new to the fold is running back Tony Hunt. The sophomore saw limited action last season against UW, but has broken out in 2004, compiling over 120 yards of total offense per game and finding the end zone three times against Central Florida.

“[Hunt] is excellent,” Alvarez said. “You know, I’ve always felt they have excellent personnel, and they have a lot of weapons on offense.”

If Paterno can live up to his own legend and get those weapons firing, the Badgers will need their defense to play up to its own high standard to squeeze out a win.