WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Anthony Scirrotto, with an ice pack covering his bruised right shoulder, took a seat after Penn State's latest win.
"It's hard to talk about how good we're playing right now," Scirrotto said.
The senior safety, though, quickly found the words to describe the defense's effort after No. 6 Penn State dispatched Purdue, 20-6, Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium -- well, at least one word.
Scirrotto declared the defensive dismantling of Purdue a "statement," a thought teammate Aaron Maybin echoed.
Penn State defense, which had been overshadowed by Penn State's most prolific offense since 1994, proved to be too much for the Boilermakers.
Purdue tallied just 241 yards of offense, 163 yards below its season average of 404 entering the game. Purdue gained 83 rushing yards on 33 attempts, becoming the fifth team to fail to gain 100 yards on the ground this season against the Lions.
The same defense that shut down Purdue had areas of concern entering the season. Cornerback Justin King and linebacker Dan Connor were gone to the NFL. Linebacker Sean Lee tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the spring and is redshirting. Defensive linemen Chris Baker and Phil Taylor were kicked off the team before the season started.
Week by week, though, the patchwork crew has gotten the job done.
And Scirrotto seemed to be basking with the defense getting past the latest checkpoint.
"We did a heck of a job out there holding them to six points," Scirrotto said.
Purdue and its touted quarterback, Curtis Painter, struggled once again when matching up against a ranked team. Painter is 0-8 in career starts against teams in the top 25, and the Boilermakers have lost 15 in a row against a ranked opponent.
Painter, meanwhile, was pulled in the fourth quarter after finishing 13 of 22 for just 112 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
"We play the type of football we know how to play, and that's rushing the quarterback, making sure we eliminate runs and as many big play threats as we can," defensive end Aaron Maybin said. "I think we were able to do that [Saturday]."
It wasn't just on this Saturday.
Through the first five games, Penn State's defense was ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring defense, total defense and rushing defense. Those numbers have been posted in the shadows of a multi-dimensional offense that has scored a school-record 211 points through the first games of the season.
"Let the offense get all the recognition," defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. "That's super. Keep it going. Score points. We're OK when they score points."
The offense scored enough with touchdown runs from Daryll Clark and Evan Royster and a pair of Kevin Kelly field goals, but Joe Paterno called the overall performance "sloppy."
Not so on the defense, aside from a couple of missed tackles that accounted for most of Purdue's early yardage.
The secondary matched up against the Boilermakers' spread offense and short passing game with a retooled unit.
Cornerback Lydell Sargeant didn't play for three quarters before entering midway through the fourth quarter. Cornerback A.J. Wallace started in his place, and Drew Astorino -- who recorded an interception -- was the nickelback.
"A.J. had been practicing a little better, but he didn't play that well [Saturday]," Paterno said. "He played all right."
Next week, the Lions defense moves on to Madison, where Wisconsin will present a different challenge with running backs P.J. Hill and John Clay instead of a spread offense much like the Nittany Lions have seen through the halfway point.
