Faced with doubts from outside observers - and from a few insiders, including their coach - Penn State made the statement Saturday that it could navigate through adverse conditions and still come out on top.

Twice in the first quarter of their 38-24 win over Illinois, the Nittany Lions trailed, and twice in the second half, they watched two-score leads evaporate to one. On each occasion, the Lions answered with a touchdown on their ensuing possession.

That's called resiliency, and it's usually the mark of a champion.

"It's very, very hard to rattle this bunch of guys," senior wide receiver Deon Butler said. "Especially on offense."

In its first four nonconference games, Penn State hardly broke a sweat, winning by a combined score of 211-40. So there was interest in how the Lions would react in their Big Ten Conference opener against a ranked opponent.

"I have been worried about that," Paterno said. "I will worry about it until we win another tough one."

There will be opportunities, especially now that Penn State (5-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) is the top-ranked team in its conference, moving up to No. 6 in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches' polls. Every opponent will be looking to knock them off, and with four of their next five games on the road, the Lions will also be facing hostile crowds.

The five-game stretch looks like this:

Saturday at Purdue (2-2).

Oct. 11 at No. 18 Wisconsin (3-1).

Oct. 18 at home against Michigan (2-2).

Oct. 25 at No. 14 Ohio State (4-1).

Nov. 8 at Iowa (3-2) after a bye week.

While Penn State did what it had to do in a satisfying win for itself and its fans, there are still uncertainties. The defense did allow 24 points to the Illini, and had several confusing moments along its front line and several blown coverages in the secondary.

The fact that linemen Maurice Evans (one sack) and Abe Koroma had just returned from serving three-game suspensions may have had something to do with the disorder. But the pass rush was almost nonexistent, and Illinois running back Daniel Dufrene (14 carries for 96 yards) exploited the middle of Penn State's front seven.

Luckily, the Lions' offense can, and likely will, make up for the defense's deficiencies. Quarterback Daryll Clark has silenced any question about earning the starting spot over backup Pat Devlin. He threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-20 passing and ran for an additional 50 yards and a touchdown.

Running back Evan Royster (19 carries for 139 yards) has been near-perfect. And the trio of wide receivers has given Clark seasoned targets. Even with leading receiver Jordan Norwood out with a hamstring injury, the Lions had Derrick Williams to fill in.

Williams had the best game of his career with 241 all-purpose yards (133 on returns, 75 receiving and 33 rushing), and became the first player under Paterno to score a touchdown rushing, receiving and on a return.

"I don't want to go overboard, but we are getting close to being a really good football team," Paterno said.

Injury update. Paterno said he expected Norwood to return for the Purdue game. . . . Starting tight end Mickey Shuler, who came into the game with a sprained ankle, didn't play much, but was aptly replaced by Andrew Quarless (two catches for 31 yards and a touchdown). . . . Paterno (knee sprain) was able to coach from the sideline for the entire game after spending the second half of last week's game in the coaches' box. He had difficulty walking on and off the podium in the postgame media room.