ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s been a little while since Les Miles last faced Joe Paterno as a coach.
Then again, it’s been even longer since the LSU football team last faced Penn State.
All four parties are set to collide Saturday when LSU (9-3, 5-3 SEC) takes on Penn State (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten) in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
Penn State and 1973 Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti beat LSU, 16-9, in the 1974 Orange Bowl. Miles was an assistant coach at Michigan when Penn State first entered the Big Ten in 1993.
Paterno had a few memories to share about the trip to Miami for that Orange Bowl and his experience with former LSU coach Charlie McClendon. But he didn’t exactly have very many details about the game—all he could seem to remember was a spectacular one-handed catch by former Nittany Lion wide receiver Chuck Herd for a touchdown.
“I just can’t remember that far back,” Paterno said at a Thursday press conference previewing the bowl. “You’re talking ’73 season, ’74 bowl, what’s that, 40 years ago? 30 years ago? 35 years ago?”
Miles was able to recall that 1993 season when the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten after 106 years as an independent. He remembered how Michigan was scheduled to play Penn State but Ohio State, Michigan’s arch rival, was not.
“I don’t know if they had Ohio State on the schedule. And I don’t know how we got to lucky to have Penn State and those other guys didn’t.”
The two coaches were asked a variety of questions at the last press conference before tomorrow’s game. Both teams will go through a walk-through Thursday before the 64th Capital One Bowl in the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium.
Both coaches have had quite a bit of bowl game success at their respective bowls. Miles is 4-0 at LSU, while Paterno is a whopping 23-11-1 at Penn State.
Miles waxed poetic for a bit about the secret to bowl success, noting that the key is simply having good teams.
But Paterno? He was a little more blunt about it.
“I didn’t know I had one,” Paterno said when asked about his bowl philosophy. “We take a team, we’ve got this, this and this, and whatever we’ve got to get done to be good enough to compete against this, this and this, we do.”
Miles said new assistant coaches Frank Wilson and Billy Gonzales have “jumped right in” with the staff and will be instrumental in coaching the game.
“Both Coach Gonzales and Coach Wilson will have game day responsibilities, and they’ll be working hard,” Miles said.
Miles also briefly addressed recent rumors about defensive coordinator John Chavis possibly leaving for the same position at Georgia.
Miles seem confident Chavis would stay at LSU.
“The only subtraction [to the staff] that I see is Larry Porter going to Memphis as the head coach,” Miles said. “I expect no other subtractions and no distractions to this game.”
 
—-Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]