Wednesday morning, I was thrown unwittingly into an unofficial Penn State football think tank.

After my first class, I stopped to chat with my dad at his office, and, about a minute after I arrived, while he was still in the midst of reminding me to study for my art history exam, his co-worker came walking in the door, football to discuss.

"I've got the scouting report, Jim," he said. "He's thrown 17 touchdown passes. Seventeen. And he has no interceptions all season."

His co-worker was, of course, talking about Purdue senior quarterback Kyle Orton, the passing machine who is thriving, and then some, in the Boilermakers' pass-happy offense.

"No interceptions?" my dad repeated, incredulously. No, not a one. And, furthermore, as I then took the liberty of sharing, the offense has no turnovers of any kind. The two amateur analysts then entered moderate panic mode and proceeded to brainstorm possible ways to stop this guy.

"How about an eleven-man rush?" my dad suggested. "I'd go with the eleven man rush."

Well, Orton's been sacked just three times this season, which speaks volumes about not only his offensive line, but also this wiliness of his that allows him to escape the rush. Plus, the image of him getting off a pass to a wide-open receiver probably isn't exactly what dad had in mind. Next idea?

"On the kickoff returns, we could have a guy block near the sideline," his co-worker offered, "and then 'accidentally' run into Orton when he least suspects it."

Oh, but that would be playing dirty, no? Well, it's not quite as bad as the age-old trick of spiking the Gatorade cooler, which was discussed next. Reading the defense probably wouldn't be the easiest task for a slightly tipsy quarterback.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.

Of course, none of these were serious suggestions. But underneath the casual mid-morning banter was the truth of the matter: save underhanded tricks, this Orton kid is unstoppable.

Throw any defense you want at him, but, chances are, the senior has seen it and knows how to attack it. Mix up the coverage, try to trip him up, have the secondary play the game of its life, but he's still got the receivers -- and the poise -- who have allowed him to rack up an insane 1,367 yards already this season.

The thing is, saying that Orton will go pass-wild again this weekend isn't a reflection on Penn State's defense. It's simply a reflection on how staggeringly good Orton is. And that's a scary notion for any of Purdue's opponents, Penn State included.

Penn State Coach Joe Paterno is so aware of this, he's hoping for some sort of divine intervention.

"You just have to play solid football and hang in there, go to the ball and tackle the receiver when he catches it, try not to let him beat you deep, keep everything in front of you," Paterno said. And then he added the kicker, "And pray."

If any school would be eligible to receive help from a higher power, Notre Dame, the Catholic school in the same state, would have been it. But, alas, despite playing at home and despite posting over 500 yards of offense, even they found themselves behind 25 points and out of luck at the end of the day.

Purdue has an offense that's rolling, and the swagger that comes with it. They have a simple game plan -- "We're gonna throw it until we get hot, and when we get hot, we're gonna throw it," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said before the season -- that no team can stop. And, most importantly, they have a heck of a quarterback that, at least at this point, has Heisman written all over him.

"Nobody has even come close to stopping them, not even close," Paterno said. "They could have beaten Notre Dame by two more touchdowns. They beat Syracuse 51-0 and have no turnovers in four games. That kid has been sacked three times. They are averaging over 500 yards a game. We have a job on our hands."

That about sums it up, but Penn State's got more than just a job on its hands -- it's got an Orton on its hands, and that's far worse.