The more you watch this Penn State football team, the more you realize how stupid some of their critics were at the beginning of this season.

Now when a team is struggling like these Nittany Lions did through the first four games, everyone will pick and pry until they find what they think is the ultimate problem holding the team down.

And boy were there a boatload of critics who had their fare share of guesses as to why this team wasn't clicking.

There was the notion that Joe Paterno was past his prime and was too steadfast in his old-fashioned ways to compete in this new era of college football.

Well, he's proven them wrong in the past three weeks as, not only have his players stepped up, but he's outcoached three younger coaches who have bright futures.

Then there was the one that said the offensive line wasn't good enough to compete against the behemoth defensive fronts of the Big Ten.

But it's become apparent that all this line needed to do was take some time to jell because they are by no means the weakest link of this team.

Now here comes the one that is turning out to be absolutely absurd.

Several followers of this squad — including almost all members of the media — said the Lions just didn't have the athletes to compete any more.

Well where are those naysayers now?

You haven't heard a peep from them since this three game win streak began.

As I said before, the majority of the media is partly to blame for this incorrect perception.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I was never a strong believer in that theory.

Seriously, do you really think that Paterno and his staff just all of a sudden developed some type of problem in evaluating talent?

Come on.

You don't thrive in this game for 36 years and just lose the ability to recruit talent. If that were the case, every coach in America would be just as crazy as Paterno is because many of them went after the same players that fill the Penn State roster.

Some of those guys really came to the forefront yesterday. Wideout Bryant Johnson is an All-Big Ten first-teamer, no questions asked. Not only does he have a knack for coming up with big plays, he's turning out to be the most reliable receiver the Lions have had in some time.

I know it's been said before but it's worth noting again that all three of the Lions heralded tailbacks could no doubt start for any program in the country. Omar Easy may be the best pure athlete on this team, Larry Johnson is as valuable on special teams as he is on offense and Eric McCoo may be as good a wide receiver as he is a running back.

Oh but there's talent on the defensive side as well. Defensive end Bob Jones had a season breakout game Saturday and at times resembled a volleyball player as he spiked and blocked passes all day long. Linebacker Shamar Finney is proving that he can definitely play in the middle. And Shawn Mayer is showing no ill effects of past injuries as he's become quite a solid player at the hero position.

These are just a few examples and I could definitely go on but I'm limited in space here. There were definitely problems at the beginning of this season, but a lack of playmaking athletes certainly wasn't one of them.

Talent isn't grown overnight. You're born with it. Practice and hard work may fine tune it, but it certainly doesn't come and go.