To the chagrin of opposing receivers, Justin King has found a home on defense.

After vacillating between offense, defense and special teams a year ago as a freshman, King is now a cornerback through and through.

"Every week I've gotten better and better," King said. "It's just like I'm getting into the rhythm and it's feeling really good."

Never was he better than a week ago in Columbus, when he shut down Ohio State star receiver Ted Ginn Jr.

The two got into a shoving match after one play in the second quarter, perhaps a result of Ginn's frustration, or maybe it was an assertion of King's confidence at defensive back.

"We were just having fun," King said after the game. "I felt that he blocked me a little late. It was all competition, good competition."

In last year's game at Northwestern, King enjoyed the competition as a receiver, making the most of his two touches on offense. On his lone reception he hauled in
a 37-yard pass from Michael
Robinson for a touchdown, and on his only run of the day he scampered for 43 yards down the sideline.

Though he asserted that it always feels good to score touchdowns, King doesn't miss playing offense, and is content with only playing cornerback.

While being recruited, King -- a dominant running back and cornerback at Gateway high school -- expressed his desire to play cornerback in preparation for a possible career in the NFL because there are more corners than running backs in the pro game.

After playing some time at corner last year, King and battery-mate Tony Davis have assumed the starting roles of departed seniors Anwar Phillips and Alan Zemaitis. After increasing the physicality of their play, King and Davis have become more adept at shutting down opposing receivers.

"We got a little bit of a confidence boost," King said of the defensive secondary's play against No. 1 Ohio State, when it limited the Buckeyes to 115 yards through the air.

Against Northwestern tomorrow, King and the defense will face a spread offense that has not found much success throwing the ball this year.

Northwestern is, however, adequate at running the ball, which may give King the opportunity to showcase his improved tackling abilities, which may be a result of his spending all his time on defense.

"He has all the talent in the world," sophomore linebacker Sean Lee said of King. "Experience-wise, he just needs more and more -- the sky's the limit as far as his ability."