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No question about it, according to Joe Paterno.
"This is the best team we've played so far this year," Paterno said during his weekly media teleconference Tuesday. "Nothing fancy, but they're solid, and they're extremely well-coached."
That says at least as much about the Nittany Lions' first three opponents as it does about the Owls. Penn State, ranked 15th in the AP poll and 16th in the USA Today coaches' poll, has crushed Coastal Carolina, Oregon State and Syracuse by a combined 166-37.
The Lions are a 28-point favorite over Temple Saturday (noon, Beaver Stadium).
Still, Temple has gotten better under coach Al Golden, a PSU alumnus.
The Owls were considered arguably the worst program in major-college football when Golden took over in 2006. His first team went 1-11.
Last year they went 4-8, 3-3 in their first season in the Mid-American Conference, and came within a blown officials' call of upsetting then-nationally-ranked Connecticut.
"The difference between now and when I first got here, even just at practice, is exceptional," Ricky Ueberroth, a Temple redshirt junior defensive back from Cocalico, said Monday."You wouldn't even believe it's the same university."
The tough luck has continued, however. The Owls are 1-2. Incredibly, they've led all but 1 minute, 49 seconds of the two losses.
The Owls led UConn 6-0 into the fourth quarter before falling in overtime. Last week they lost 30-28 at Buffalo on a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game.
Still, it appears that Penn State's season won't get serious until Illinois comes to town for the Big Ten opener next week. The biggest issue for the Lions has to be complacency.
"You talk, you rant, you rave, you threaten," Paterno said when asked how he deals with that.
"We have a procedure for every day of the week, for each practice. Things change a little based on the opponent, but the procedure stays the same. It's good because the kids can be comfortable with what we're doing every day.
"The worst thing you can do is waste their time on the practice field, because then they get bored."
Not that Joe is especially worried about motivation.
(938) (747) (199) (53) (21) (18) (16) (9) (4) (2)"I've been pleased with the attitude of this team," he said.
"They've been all business. I'll be surprised if they look ahead after watching tapes of Temple and realizing how good they are."
It helps that so many of the players know they're likely to see action. Ten Penn State players ran the ball and eight caught passes in last week's romp at Syracuse.
In his teleconference Tuesday, wide receiver Deon Butler said he and the other starters feel fresh and relaxed because they've gotten to sit and watch their teammates in the dregs of blowouts.
"They should be fresh," Paterno said. "That's a luxury. The only concern is that normally, you play the team into shape. You have to be careful that you don't tire them out in practice trying to make up for the fact that the starters didn't get as many plays as you expected."
That's the good side of not having been tested. The bad side is that, well, it's useful to be tested.
"I really don't know yet (how good we are)," Paterno said. "Until you get into a game where you can't get easy scores … we'll have that against Temple. They won't beat themselves. They'll make us work for everything."
Paterno brushed aside questions about the status of suspended defensive linemen Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma.
Neither player has been practicing with the team since University police found a small amount of marijuana in their apartment two weeks ago.
"That (question) is not helpful any way I answer it," Paterno said.
The news was better on Mike Lucian, the former offensive lineman who was moved to defense last week, played well against Syracuse, but left the game with an ankle sprain.
I think Lucian has got a chance (to play Saturday)," Paterno said. "He didn't practice yesterday, but he's going to try to do a couple things today."
E-mail: mgross@lnpnews.com
