Just four games into the 2006 season, the Penn State Nittany Lions have already eclipsed their loss total from 2005.

Sitting at 2-2 after a 28-6 loss to Ohio State, many in the Nittany Nation may be thinking it's time to panic. It's not.

As strange as this sounds, Penn State fans need to take a lesson from Detroit Lions' wide receiver Roy Williams. The score means nothing.

Yeah, 28-6 looks bad. But really, Penn State played a very good Ohio State team very tough when nobody really expected the Lions to challenge the Buckeyes.

Take away the two touchdowns Ohio State scored off interceptions in the final two minutes and it's a 14-6 game. That's not too shabby against the nation's top team.

"A lot of guys grew up today," junior linebacker Dan Connor said.

Among them, Sean Lee, who finished with a career-high 11 tackles. And Justin King, who held Ted Ginn Jr. to 15 yards receiving and picked up his first career interception.

There was steady Tony Hunt, who rushed for 135 yards.

"Every loss starts out being discouraging, but you've got to look at the positives of the game," King said.

Yeah, Anthony Morelli absolutely stunk up Ohio Stadium. Three interceptions? A cannon of an arm is no good if you can't place the ball anywhere, or if receivers can't get open, which is exactly what happened against Ohio State.

And what about Derrick Williams? What happened to the kid who was so hyped coming out of high school? The only place I could think to look is the back of a milk carton because his big play ability is certainly missing this year.

And the offensive playcalling? Well, I'm willing to wager the Ohio State defense would have been more confused by the menu at Starbucks.

But enough with the bad -- unless the bad is actually good.

Follow me here: This team isn't like last year's Penn State team. It doesn't have the necessary parts in its chest or between its ears yet to realize its potential. But that'll come.

Everyone looks to last season, when Michael Robinson, Alan Zemaitis and Tamba Hali drove the Lions to an 11-1 season. That team had character. It had leadership. But what everyone overlooked in the midst of an Orange Bowl victory was that team suffered hardship, too.

Remember the 3-9 2003 season? Or the 4-7 season in 2004? I can almost guarantee Robinson, Zemaitis and Hali did.

Penn State has Temple, Illinois and Northwestern at home this year. Those are three surefire wins. Michigan and Michigan State at home are both winnable games. Purdue and Minnesota on the road are, too. A 10-2 season isn't out of reach.

And next year, the Lions return almost everyone. Paul Posluszny, Levi Brown and Hunt will all be gone, but Morelli, Williams, Deon Butler, Connor, King, etc. all return.

Next year's team will be loaded.

They just have to grow up.