Illinois quarterback Johnny Johnson should probably consider himself lucky that he doesn't have to face his own defense in practice. Instead he faces the scout team defense, the one modeled after the current week's opponent.

This week, the scout team wore generic blue and white, emulating No. 16 Penn State, which Illinois takes on at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow on the Beaver Stadium turf.

"They've carried us through the season," Johnson said of the guys he watches in between offensive series. "Offense wins games, but defense wins championships."

The defense boasted by the Fighting Illini has definitely caught Coach Joe Paterno's attention. Until Michigan gained 362 yards in total offense against them, the Orange Crush defense had surrendered less than 300 yards in total offense for five consecutive weeks.

"The way they hustle and hit, they're an outstanding football team," Paterno said.

The defense is led by the linebackers, a group that Paterno should get used to looking at -- because most of them are underclassmen.

Junior Dana Howard, who had 13 tackles last week versus Minnesota, leads the Big Ten in tackles with 100. Then there's sophomore Simeon Rice, a Big Ten defensive player of the week in September, who ranks second in the conference with eight quarterback sacks to go along with 14 tackles for loss.

Throw junior John Holecek, last week's defensive player of the week with 14 tackles against Minnesota, into the mix, and the Illinois defense presents Penn State with quite a formidable challenge.

"Illinois is a little bit more aggressive than Indiana," Paterno said. "They really work awfully hard to shut down the run."

For Illinois, that means shutting down Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter. So far this season, the redshirt sophomore has topped the century mark in seven of the Lions' eight games. Illinois Coach Lou Tepper said he's fearful of the offensive attack that Penn State brings to the table.

"Our defense is going to have our hands full with such a great runner as Ki-Jana Carter," Tepper said. "Penn State has a number of different offensive weapons."

On the other side of the ball, the Penn State defense will focus much of its attention on containing Johnson, whom Paterno lumped in the same category athletically with former West Virginia star Major Harris.

"He's hard to pin down, he'll scramble on you -- make the big plays in the clutch," Paterno said. "He's a great competitor, a big kid, runs well, great arm, can do an awful lot of things -- he'll give you all kinds of problems on defense."

Johnson knows he can't afford to let his team get down in the early quarters of the game against Penn State. But after leading the team from behind in two of the last three games, Johnson has displayed a tenacity which concerns Paterno.

But Tepper is worried about whether or not Johnson, or the rest of his offense, will be able to control the game.

"Statistically, they're most impressive," Tepper said. "Defensively, they scare you because they give up very few yards."