Passing and solid quarterback play is to Purdue football what nameless jerseys are to Penn State -- a bit of a staple, a tradition.

"They are going to throw the football," Joe Paterno said. "They get spread out all over the place and they are going to throw the football. This kid is pretty good."

"This kid" is Curtis Painter, and this game may be a challenging one for Penn State's defense.

Painter started five games last year as a redshirt freshman but had little success against the Nittany Lions.

This year, he is the full-time starter, and Purdue's passing attack leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth in the nation with a robust 309 yards per game. Painter has thrown for 2,405 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

The sophomore is also a threat to run should the pocket collapse.

"He can do a lot," linebacker Dan Connor said. "He can make adjustments, he can hurt you with the run, where he can tuck it and get some yardage. He doesn't make mistakes and he's precise."

Since he puts up big numbers in coach Joe Tiller's spread offense, many around Purdue's program compare and contrast Painter to Drew Brees, the Boilermakers' standout starting quarterback from 1998-2000, now with the New Orleans Saints. A first round draft pick and an eight-time Big Ten player of the week, the legacy left by Brees is certainly not easy to live up to -- especially with games such as the one Painter had last week against Wisconsin.

Painter's hiccup a week ago came when Wisconsin's defense forced him out of his comfort zone and into stretches of inaccuracy and ineffectiveness. Painter was 20-of-40 for 187 yards (a mere 4.67 yards per attempt -- a lousy number that was still better than the abysmal 4.2 Penn State logged per throw last week).

Criticism of Painter, as well as the playcalling, began after the game and continued throughout the week.

"With young guys, the good ones tend to have amnesia in the sense that they forget or get over quickly an interception or a mistake or even a bad game," Tiller said. "This is just another step in the growth of a quarterback and I'm as anxious as anyone to see him play this week."

Like when Penn State signal caller Anthony Morelli faced harsh criticism in the wake of the Lions' loss at Ohio State, Painter accepts responsibility for the team's offensive struggles against Wisconsin and is trying to ignore the negativity.

"I don't really pay attention to it at all," Painter said of the criticism. "It's impossible not to hear things, but I don't let it affect me at all. I know the coaches are confident in me and I think that all of the players around me are confident, and that gives me confidence as well. I'm not going to pay attention to what's going on around me."

Like most years when Penn State prepares to play Tiller's Boilermakers, Paterno knows there will be spread formations and three-step drops aplenty, giving the quarterback ample opportunity to make a play.

"They can throw the football and they can do it year in and year out," Paterno said.