.... other than allowing him to maintain his own personal integrity and honor ......
Probably not. If Paterno had just up and resigned, you can bet that someone in the press would have thought to think up the question, "Why"?
Whatever answer he gives, it's either potentially slanderous, or disingenuous, neither of which would preserve or bolster his personal integrity or honor.
"Paterno is having his weekly press conference today, If this guy has one ounce of moral fiber, he will be giving his resignation as well."
Because he failed to take on the additional roles of judge and jury, or that of informant, stemming from a third-party accusation in which he wasn't involved, directly or indirectly? Okie.
Paterno didn't see anything - he was only told about it. If someone came up to me and said, "I just saw Witness out in the back row of the parking lot having sex with a 10 year old boy," should I report that to the police, even if I think it's not true? If Paterno didn't already know about his long-time friend, the sexual predator, then he really had no obligation, legally or morally, to do anything other than what he did.
As was noted in the NY Daily News,
"If McQueary, a former football player and grad assistant, saw Sandusky having sex with a 10-year-old in a shower at the Lasch Football Building at Penn State, forget about running to the head football coach. How about throwing Sandusky up against the wall and banging him around a little bit, then calling the police?"
But some will probably get their wish, Paterno will probably be forced out and will resign, even though he did nothing wrong. The Shylocks of society want to exact their pound of flesh (a reference to
The Merchant of Venice, a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare).