Penn State now leads the all-time series with Tennessee, 3-2. Phil Fulmer played on the Volunteer team that beat the Lions, 31-11, in 1971; was a graduate assistant on the team that beat State, 28-21, in 1972; was an assistant coach to Johnny Majors at the ’91 Fiesta Bowl and head coach at the ’94 Citrus Bowl. He said he’s learned some lessons from Paterno each time. . . Fulmer congratulated Penn State and Paterno for their outstanding program, which he said “represents what’s best about college football.” . . . He said Penn State was one of the top two or three teams Tennessee played this year. . . Paterno said his staff is so good they didn’t need him on the sidelines Monday. He said his role in the booth was to write notes and yell at the coaches.  He said, “All I do is get in the way. But I have to yell once in a while, so people think I’m earning my money.” . . . The Nittany Lions are 8-5 in bowl games against SEC teams (7-4 under Paterno) but trail 18-19 in all games versus SEC opponents. . . Penn State is losing some very special seniors, many of whom received awards at the State College Quarterback Club Banquet on Dec. 10. Tim Shaw received the Ridge Riley Award for “sportsmanship, scholarship, leadership and friendship;” Levi Brown, the Richard Maginnis Memorial Award for outstanding lineman; Jeremy Kapinos, the John Bruno Jr. Memorial Award for outstanding special teams player; Joe Cianciolo, the Nittany Lion Club Award for highest grade point average; Andy Kubic, the Walk-on Award for total commitment, loyalty and hard work; Robert Price, the Robert B. Mitinger Jr. Award for courage, character and social responsibility; Tony Hunt and Jay Alford, the Quarterback Club Special Recognition Awards; and Paul Posluszny, the Hall Foundation Outstanding Senior Award. . . Brown was a second team All-American this fall; Alford and Kapinos were third team AA. . . Posluszny and Tim Shaw were first team Academic All-Americans this year, and Nolan McCready was named to the second team. Perhaps Posluszny’s greatest honor was being selected as the “Academic All-American of the Year.” . . Poz, who was the first Penn Stater to lead the team in tackles for three consecutive seasons, raised his record total to 372. . . Junior Dan Connor is tied for 5th on the all-time list with 274 tackles and is undecided about whether he will return next year or declare himself for the NFL draft this spring. . .  Tennessee’s All-American receiver Robert Meachem, a junior, is fifth in school history with 125 receptions. This year he had 67 catches for 1,265 yards, including six 100-yard games. State’s secondary held him to four catches for 33 yards. Meachem had at least one catch of at least 20 yards in all 12-regular season games and at least one catch of at least 40 yards in five games. Against Justin King and his mates, Meachem’s longest catch was 12 yards. . . Seven times the game was stopped for video reviews of calls on the field—by far the most in any Penn State game. Twice the calls were overturned. . . For the first time this year, the Lions’ offense had no turnovers.  The defense forced at least three turnovers in six games. . . The defense allowed only 29 first quarter points in 13 games and an average of only 12.7 points per game. . . The last time Penn State’s defense scored a touchdown in a bowl game was in 1999 when Derek Fox returned an interception 34 yards against Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. . . Kevin Kelly’s 22 field goals this season ties the mark set by Matt Bahr in 1978. Kelly’s 34 attempts eclipsed the record previously held by Chris Bahr ’75. . . Kapinos set the career yardage record of 10,476 yards on 251 punts and tied for fifth with a 41.7 average per punt. . . Shaw’s 9-yard sack of Ainge was his seventh of the year and 12th of his career. . . Alford’s two tackles for loss raised his career total to 32. . . Hunt’s 158 rushing yards were the second most for a Nittany Lion in a bowl game. Blair Thomas gained 186 against Brigham Young in the 1989 Holiday Bowl. . . For the seventh time in the last nine years Penn State had the most athletes earning Academic All Big Ten honors—78 in seven fall sports. State’s total of 2,631 in the last 12½ years leads all Big Ten schools. . . Penn State’s 83 percent graduation rate for athletes was third highest in the nation among public universities. . . Regardless of what Bill Cowher does, Tuesday marked the ending of an era for the Pittsburgh Steelers, when Nittany Lion alum Dick Hoak retired as running back coach after 45 seasons in Pittsburgh—10 as a player and 35 as a coach. He set the NFL record for longest continuous tenure as an assistant coach. He was a Steeler for 742 of the franchise’s 1,057 games and was involved in every title and playoff victory during its 74 seasons. A two-way starter for the Nittany Lions at running back and defensive back from 1958-60, Hoak was a running back for the Steelers from 1961-70. A Pro Bowler in 1968, he retired as the Steelers’ No. 2 all-time rusher. He has since slipped to No. 5 behind several players he coached—Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis, John Henry Johnson and Frank Pollard. He turned down several offensive coordinator jobs in the NFL and head coaching offers in other leagues, staying as position coach under Chuck Noll for 20 seasons and Bill Cowher for 15.