STOP EVAN TURNER

I'm sure coach Ed DeChellis will have a few more points on his bulletin board before this evening's game with ninth-ranked Ohio State, however I think everyone knows what the main goal is.

Ohio State will come into the Jordan Center tonight not only boasting a top-10 national ranking, but also a Player-of-the-Year contender in Evan Turner. Turner, a versatile junior point guard, has been heating up in 2010 since missing a month of play in December with two broken vertebrae.

Since Penn State has been spreading the scoring around (finally), Turner now leads the Big Ten Conference with averages of 19.5 points and 9.3 rebounds, and is second in assists at 5.8. He led Ohio State (21-7, 11-4) in a key win at Michigan State on Sunday. For the record, Talor Battle is in second averaging 19.0 points per game.

Turner has been relentless over his past few games (averaging just under 25 points over the last two, earning his sixth Big Ten Player of the Week honors), and it's obvious the Lions will have their work cut out for then. However, as the defense has been tightening things up over their last two road wins, they might just be peaking at the right time.

The Ohio State point guard hasn't taken as many three-point attempts this year as in year's past, however that doesn't mean Penn State's zone can relax with him at the top of the key. The key to limiting Turner's chances will be the Penn State big men tightening the middle of the zone, and the guards helping trap Turner in the corners. Similar to Coach Jim Boeheim's style of zone up north at Syracuse, the Lions will have to play with increased energy, constantly shifting to take away passing lanes - especially to the inside. It's obvious the Lions don't have the height or length as Syracuse's 2-3 zone, and have had trouble shifting in the past, however there's no reason to believe they haven't improved over weeks past.

In the Lions 13-point loss to the Buckeyes back in January (which was much closer than the score shows), Turner lit up the scoreboard for 27 points on 9 of 15 shooting, hitting 9 of 11 free throws. If PSU is going to keep the overall score low (which is always their goal), they'll need to limit Turner's opportunities without giving him an easy 10 from the free throw line. As he cuts to the basket with relative ease, quick hands and feet for Penn State will be dire.

All facets of the Penn State defense have shown signs of improvement, including Drew Jones who held his own against Michigan's DeShawn Sims. Sims, who averages 17.5 points per game, was held to only 10 points on Saturday. If everyone on the defensive end can play as aggressive tonight as they did against Michigan, a third-straight Big Ten victory might just be in the cards for the Nittany Lions.

If the scoring and rebounding can stay as balanced as they have been over the last week, I'd double those chances.

LIONS DEFENSE STARTING TO ROAR

It's rare that you learn something new about a team after nine games of a twelve-game season. Generally, in college football, the maxim of, "You are who you are," can be applied with little modification after a few games. Sixteen quarters into the 2008 season, the Nittany Lions had scored 40+ points in the opening four games of a season for the first time ever and averaged more than 538 yards per contest. The high-octane offense even broke the 1994 squad's mark for the most total points in the first four games, racking up 211.

All of that production earned this team the label of offensive juggernaut by fans and media alike and led them to believe that the offense would take Penn State as far as it could go. Then, something happened. Daryll Clark continued to lead the Lions to the endzone, racking up at least 38 points in all but one of the first eight games of the year, but players like Aaron Maybin, Jared Odrick, Navarro Bowman and Mark Rubin started taking some of thes potlight from incumbent stars, Evan Royster, Derrick Williams and Deon Butler.

Finally, on Saturday night, when the team needed a play to rescue its fading perfect season, it was, as it has been so many times since Joe Paterno came to Happy Valley, the defense that saved the day. Don't think for a moment that means that this offense isn't the high-powered and multi-faceted attack that it has appeared to be for most of the season, but don't overlook what might be America's best defense either.

Against Ohio State, Penn State's defense spent much of the game in a zone defense, allowing its secondary to have it's eyes trained not only on the receivers, but also on the dangerous Buckeye backfield. The Lions stuffed Beanie Wells for just 55 yards on 22 carries, nearly four yards below his season average. Terrelle Pryor also struggled to find room, gaining only six net yards on nine carries, after averaging more than 4.5 ypc in the first eight games.

Because of the difficulties on the ground, Pryor was forced to go to the air to try and move his team, but found the Lions' pass defense to be just as stingy. The freshman did set a new season-high for passing yards with 226, but take away the gains from a blown coverage, a jump ball and a late pass against a soft prevent defense designed to keep the Buckeyes away from the sidelines and Pryor averaged just nine yards per completion.

This was not just a case of Penn State playing inspired defense against a quality opponent, all season long Penn State has done a phenomenal job of making teams earn their points by limiting big plays. In its first nine games the defense has surrendered just 20 plays of 20 yards or more and has specialized in getting off of the field and getting the ball to its powerful offense. Tom Bradley's squad ranks 10th in the country in third-down conversion defenses despite facing the second-most third downs of any team in the nation.

Perhaps the most telling stat though about this defense, more revealing even than its unwillingness to give up big plays or first downs, is its refusal to allow teams to put together long drives. So far this year, Penn State's defense has only allowed 18 drives of 50+ yards in nine games.

Judging by that last figure, Penn State's opponents almost have to start their possessions on the Lions' side of the field just to have a chance at scoring a touchdown. That is not something that happens often considering punter Jeremy Boone is regaining his All Big Ten form from a year ago, pinning teams inside the 20, and Penn State's offense is tied for sixth nationally with just six turnovers in nine games.

Looking ahead to possible matchups in the national championship game against either Texas or Alabama, Penn State seems equally equipped to handle the high-powered offense of the Longhorns or to solve the smothering run defense of the Crimson Tide. The better question might be, who out there can stop a team as balanced as Penn State?

DEFENSE DOING ITS PART AS WELL

It's very easy to overlook the defense of a team that has the top ranked rushing, scoring and total offensive units in the Big Ten. So much so, that I wonder how many of you realize that Penn State possesses the top rushing, pass efficiency and scoring defense in the Big Ten as well.

What this year's group lacks in star power, it makes up for in balance. Eight different players have at least 20 total tackles for the Nittany Lions, that's more players than USC's, Ohio State's, Oklahoma's, LSU's or Alabama's defense, just to name a few.

Additionally, in its six games so far, Penn State has employed six different defensive starting lineups, showing tremendous depth at every position. The unit has had to overcome season-ending injuries to linebackers Jerome Hayes and All-American Sean Lee as well as the mid-season suspensions of defensive linemen Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma and it still rolls on.

Penn State fans have found unexpected heroes at every level of the defense with Aaron Maybin ranked 2nd in the nation in sacks/game (1.17), linebacker Navarro Bowman earning conference defensive player-of-the-week honors three weeks ago and freshman Drew Astorino leading the team in interceptions.

Maybin was named to the All Big Ten Freshman team last year, but was certainly expected to play in the shadow of Evans this season. Instead, it's been Maybin that has become the most effective pass rusher on the D-Line, Maybinizing everything in sight. (It will quickly become apparent of the unnatural love we feel for Aaron Maybin here at The Floating Lion)

The expectations for Bowman rose by default this spring when Lee suffered his knee injury, and the redshirt sophomore has not disappointed. He's led or tied for the team lead in tackles in four of the six games so far, including eleven stops, five tackles for loss, three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble all in one game against Temple.

Astorino, through six games, seems to have answered the question of who will step in for first team All Big Ten safety Anthony Scirrotto when he graduates after this season. The first-year player has shown a knack for providing excellent support against the run and getting himself in the right position to make plays in the secondary.

The best measuring stick for a defense is points allowed and the Lions are the ninth toughest team to score on in the country. One reason why is that it has consistently not given up the big play. Sure, there were blown coverages in the secondary against Coastal Carolina and Illinois, but overall the Lions have allowed just 13 plays all year to go for more than 20 yards, and just one of them was a run. That means that Penn State is forcing teams to matriculate the ball down the field slowly, a staple of Penn State defenses for decades, allowing itself more chances to use its depth and athleticism to short circuit drives before they reach the end zone.

Moreover, while the Penn State defense might not be the greatest at forcing turnovers (11 far this season, ranked 40th), it has effectively nullified any momentum that the opponent might gain from the Lions' offensive turnovers. Penn State has six turnovers this season (9th best in the country) and the net result of those six has been just six points off of two field goals. Look closer still and you'll see that both of the opponents' scoring drives had started deep in Penn State territory and the defense allowed exactly 0 total yards.

So while Daryll Clark and the offense might be grabbing all the headlines for its stellar play this season, don't sleep on the Penn State defense, a unit that will certainly get its own time to shine when Penn State plays road games Wisconsin and Ohio State - two places that the Blue and White have traditionally struggled to score points.