KTUL.com - Tulsa's Channel 8 - News, Weather & SportsSwitzer Reacts To Passing of Joe Paterno

Former University of Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer says the passing of former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno is sad and tragic.

The former Sooners head coach spoke out Sunday, just hours after the announcement of Paterno's death from lung cancer.

Paterno coached at Penn State for 46 seasons and finished his career with 409 victories, the most wins of any Division I football coach in history.

But, the end of his career came not with the pomp and circumstance it should have. Paterno resigned in November after a former defensive coordinator was charged with molestation.

Switzer says this isn't how Paterno should have gone out.

"I hate it that this happens for Joe, to end like this," Switzer said. "It is sad and tragic. There's no winners here."

Switzer and Paterno met on the football field only once -- on January 1, 1985 in the Orange Bowl in Miami. The Nittany Lions were unbeaten and ranked No. 1. The Sooners were ranked third and were riding a seven-game win streak.

Oklahoma won the game, 25-10, and with a loss by #2 Miami, it gave the Sooners their sixth national championship. Paterno's Nittany Lions would win the title a year later, the second and final of Paterno's national champion teams.