Even though his team was dominated by No. 1 Ohio State last Saturday, Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said his team is still playing well.
He said the Buckeyes were just better and added his team is not in the same class as Ohio State at this point in the season.
"I think we have a good team. I don't know whether we have a great team yet; I think we're working towards it," Paterno said. "I thought we played well, "we did what we had to do. Unfortunately, from our side of it, Ohio State was a little better. But I think we're going to be okay."
Paterno added he will be able to learn a lot about his team by how it bounces back against what he called a "good football team, believe me." Purdue's two losses have come against Ohio State and Michigan, two teams that beat Penn State.
Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter ranks second in the Big Ten in passing (2420 yards) and has thrown for 24 touchdowns against only six interceptions.
The Boilermakers' spread offense leads the league in scoring offense and is second in passing.
That offense, instituted by Purdue head coach Joe Tiller, changed the conference, Paterno said.
"When Joe came in, [he] turned the philosophy or the character of the Big Ten because he came in here and started throwing the ball around a little more, spread us out," Paterno said.
That offense, led by Painter and wide receiver Dorien Bryant, and his league-leading 64 receptions, has Paterno worried, especially since the Lions' secondary has struggled of late.
Paterno said Indiana's offensive explosion was due to 6-foot-7 wide receiver James Hardy but Ohio State's aerial success concerned the veteran coach.
"Against Ohio State we've got to take a good look at a couple of things we're doing," Paterno said. "We put our corners in a tough situation, we really did. We didn't change up maybe enough on that."
On the defensive side of the ball, Paterno said the Boilermakers have improved the past few weeks. He said Purdue has had to adjust to the new scheme of first-year defensive coordinator Brock Spack.
The defense features a lot of unique blitzes and is anchored by defensive linemen Cliff Avril and Eugene Bright who have combined for 10 sacks on the season.
In the back seven, linebacker Anthony Heygood is ninth in the Big Ten with 12 tackles for loss and corner Terrell Vinson leads the league with five interceptions and 14 passes defended.
Paterno said the defense is solid and will pose a challenge to the Penn State offense.
"They're going to make us run the football and I hope we can do it. Because what they do is they're not going to give you a lot of oneonone or anything like that on the outside." Paterno said.
"It will be a challenge for us. It's tougher than we've seen, and we're going to have to score points. They can score points so this is going to be a tough football game."
