While Penn State football coach Joe Paterno continues to talk about the youth and inexperience of his team, the real problem with the Nittany Lions' defense is tackling -- or lack thereof.

In several recent losses, including Saturday's 28-14 loss to Purdue, the Penn State defense has been unable to make solid tackles when the game reaches its crucial point. The most glaring problem, however, is that the upperclassmen are often the ones with the poor fundamentals.

As Saturday's contest with the Boilermakers stretched into the fourth quarter, Penn State punted to give Purdue the ball with a little less than 13 minutes remaining. Following a 13-yard punt return, the Boilermakers had the ball at the Penn State 42-yard line.

The ensuing seven-play drive tranquilized the agitated Lions, who seemed eerily symbolic of a team with little for which to play.

On a key fourth-and-one play from the Penn State 21-yard line, tailback Brandon Jones took a pitch to the left side -- a play the Boilermakers had run with success all game. Penn State safety Andrew Guman was pancake-blocked on the outside and two different defenders missed tackles as Jones took the ball 19 yards down to the Penn State two-yard line.

Still, Penn State trailed by just six points and a key stop on the goal line could swing the momentum their way. Two runs by Jones, one over left tackle and one up the middle, netted a yard. But, on third down from the one-yard line, Jones again took a toss to the left.

Moving laterally with the tailback, Penn State outside linebacker Derek Wake ran to stop Jones. In a battle of wills, the 5-foot-11, 235-pound running back bowled over the 6-foot-3, 244-pound linebacker and ran into the end zone to virtually lock up the game.

"They were able to run the ball effectively and eat a lot of clock," Penn State cornerback Alan Zemaitis said. "They were able to convert third downs and keep us on the field. That was one of the biggest problems."

As strong as the Purdue offense was, the missed tackles by seniors and juniors added a great deal of the 219 yards the Boilermakers tallied on the ground. On Anthony Chambers' 76-yard punt return for a touchdown midway through the second quarter, Penn State seniors Gino Capone and Richard Gardner missed tackles, as did Guman, a junior.

The problems came from a seeming lack of desire, poor positioning or a defender's inability to lower his shoulder below that of the ball carrier. But it did not, as many claim, come solely from the younger players.

For several weeks, Paterno has bemoaned the tackling problems that first became a great concern in the Lions' loss to Minnesota on Sept. 27. The coach said then that it was because of conditioning issues and that the team was simply over-worked.

Now, however, it seems there may be a lack of desire coupled with poor fundamentals.

With Iowa and tailback Fred Russell, the eighth-leading rusher in the nation with an average of 121 yards per game, the Lions will have to address the real problem on their defense -- the tackling -- if they want to prevent another Big Ten rout.