[media-credit name=’RAY PFEIFFER/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Nobody is safe from harm when it comes to football. Whether you're on the field or not, whether you're wearing a jersey or not, anybody can get hurt in such a violent game.

The trainers were busy on both sidelines of Wisconsin's 13-3 victory over Penn State Saturday, in a game that left a player, a coach and a referee injured when the dust had finally settled.

Perhaps it was a bad omen when linesman Mike Mahouski was injured on the opening kickoff and did not return, forcing the rest of the officiating crew to work shorthanded for just about an entire game.

The Penn State coaching staff could relate, as PSU head coach Joe Paterno was knocked out of the game in the third quarter after failing to get out of the way of a tackle on the sideline. When Badgers linebacker DeAndre Levy tackled Nittany Lions tight end Anthony Quarless on the PSU sideline, Levy's helmet hit the 79-year-old coaching icon square in his left knee, sending Paterno sprawling to the turf.

After being attended to by PSU assistants and trainers for eight or nine minutes, Paterno was helped to a bench, where a brace was applied to his leg. After being fussed over for the entire third period — Paterno reportedly resisted all requests to be taken to the locker room as long as he could — the legendary coach was carted off the field. He then was promptly flown back to University Park, Pa., with Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State's director of athletics medicine.

Sunday, it was revealed Paterno fractured ligaments in his left leg. However, the man who has missed the opening kickoff just twice in his 41-year career as a head coach is expected to be on the field this Saturday against Temple.

When Paterno was knocked out of action, PSU defensive coordinator Tom Bradley assumed head coaching duties for the remainder of the contest, and spoke after the game on behalf of the injured coach.

"I've been around Coach a long time, and I know the one thing he didn't want to hear from me is, 'Are you okay?' He just wanted to hear about the football team; he wanted to talk about the plays; he wanted to talk how we were going to communicate. That's all he wanted to talk about."

Bradley, who is in his 28th year working alongside Paterno, said the "wiry old rascal" of a coach was not at all interested in receiving condolences for his injury.

"If I were to ask him, 'How were you feeling?' I think he might have punched me," Bradley said. "I know him, he would not want you to worry one second about him, because he'll probably be out chasing after officials next Saturday."

Paterno's son, Jay, is the Nittany Lions' quarterbacks' coach and said he hadn't been fully aware of his father's condition during the game. The younger Paterno added he was as confident as Bradley that the legendary coach would be back on the sidelines next week against Temple.

"Obviously, I'm worried about him, but I also know he's tough, and he'll still be around," Paterno said. "I'm sure he'll be driving us nuts this week."

On UW's sideline, John Stocco was knocked out of the game as well, after being sacked by PSU's Sean Lee with 10 minutes remaining in the game. UW head coach Bret Bielema downplayed the injury, saying he wasn't "overly concerned" with Stocco's injury to his right shoulder. Tyler Donovan finished out the game for Stocco and completed one 2-yard pass to Paul Hubbard while also scrambling for a 20-yard gain late.

Stocco's status for next week's game at Iowa is unclear, and if the fifth-year veteran can't play, Donovan would be the starting quarterback in Wisconsin's Big Ten finale. Players offered votes of confidence after the game, in the case that Donovan would start against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

"I think Tyler gives us a little bit of a different dimension," UW offensive tackle Joe Thomas said. "We can throw some different game plan plays in there, and I'd be very confident with Tyler back there."

"I don't think we're going to have to do anything preparation-wise differently [for Iowa]," Hubbard said. "It's like an assembly line — once somebody goes down, somebody else is going to step in, and we're just going to hopefully keep moving the ball and just doing the things that we've been doing."

Penn State running back Tony Hunt and defensive end Tim Shaw were also shaken up during the game.