Matt Rourke / AP

Penn State coach Joe Paterno has coached the team for the last 46 years.

On Wednesday, Sandusky's portrait on a mural in State College was painted over.

In his statement, Paterno said: "I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief."

He went on: "I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today."

At "Paternoville," the tent city outside Beaver Stadium where students camp out before home games, news of Paterno's resignation spread quickly.

"He's been a staple here for so long," said Troy Weller, a junior from Hatboro, Pa. "It's kind of hard to realize there's going to be change."

There was little evidence on the rest of the bucolic campus that an era is ending. Students hustled to and from class, and the patio of a restaurant across the street from campus was filled with people laughing and basking in the warm, sunny November day.

There was only a scattering of Paterno supporters in front of his modest home — nothing like the hundreds of students who staged a raucous vigil Tuesday night and chanted his name. There were a few deliveries to the house — flowers, what looked like a fruit basket — and one student dropped a letter into the mailbox.

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