Sitting in the front of the media room slouched in his chair with his legs crossed, Joe Paterno didn’t have much to be happy about. The grim look on his face said it all.

Eight key defensive injuries, just seven first downs and 65 yards rushing told Paterno’s story.

Moments after his players hung their heads and walked out of a half-empty Beaver Stadium, after choruses of boos were directed toward them at various points during Penn State’s 33-13 loss to Illinois, the head coach was his own worst critic.

But even with Penn State (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten) suffering its worst homecoming loss since Paterno took over as head coach, the 83-year-old didn’t want the blame to be pointed anywhere else.

“We stunk,” Paterno said. “I did a lousy job. I thought we were ready, we just didn’t play very well. I can make a million excuses, but we had other opportunities. We didn’t stay on our blocks, didn’t have a good day throwing the ball, we didn’t do a great job play calling. We did a lousy job.”

Though he thought the team was well prepared, for the second week in a row the Lions failed to set the tempo. Twenty second-quarter points gave Illinois a halftime lead, and the Lions failed to enter the red zone in the second half.

The team’s inability to take control of the game with either the offensive or defensive line left Paterno with the same gut reaction several fans had as they bolted from their seats early in the fourth quarter.

“We got the crap kicked out of us,” Paterno said.

Adding that at the line of scrimmage the Illini “kicked our rears in” and that he felt his linebackers played like “they never saw a pass before,” Paterno had a lot to shake his head at.

But he said he will not go around pointing fingers at his players and said he and the coaching staff need to watch more film and use the upcoming bye week to evaluate several players and position groups.

The coach was quick to take the blame, but as senior Stefen Wisniewski put it, the Lions certainly didn’t give the crowd anything worth watching.

After a players-only meeting Monday and watching a Penn State highlight reel Friday, team co-captain Ollie Ogbu said there’s only so much the coaches can do to ensure the players are ready.

“It’s not the coaches. It’s not the play calling,” Ogbu said. “Like they always say, you can have the right guys doing the wrong play, or the wrong play but the right guys. You’ve got to go out there and execute, you know everybody. And it’s on everybody. It’s not any individual, it’s not on any one position, it’s on the whole team.”

As for one person who has been around the head coach long enough to know if a specific loss wears on Paterno more than usual, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno wasn’t sure.

Though Paterno’s body language, as he swayed from side to side in his chair, may have suggested two straight Big Ten losses left him agitated, Jay Paterno said he felt his father was simply disappointed.

“He doesn’t like to lose ever,” Jay Paterno said. “We probably took some steps backward today and you want to see your team get better every week. That didn’t happen today.”