It was somewhat easy to overlook Courtney Brown.

The former Penn State defensive end, selected by the Cleveland Browns with the top pick in the NFL Draft, was The Quiet Storm.

He was humble in demeanor, but fierce on the gridiron, tallying 13.5 sacks and 29 tackles for loss in his senior season. But while Brown plays on Sundays, his absence from the Penn State defense leaves a gaping hole on Happy Valley fall Saturdays this year.

So the defensive line has come together like a family to follow the legacy of its favorite son. That leaves its fatherly figure, Larry Johnson, as the mentor for this bunch after switching roles from defensive ends coach and the movement of Joe Sarra to an administrative position.

"Coach Johnson looks out for us," defensive lineman T.J. Gholston said. "We are like his children."

"There is more of a sense of togetherness," Jimmy Kennedy said. "There are no individuals. There are no superstars right now. Everyone else is just working hard to go out there and do it himself."

Much like their offensive line counterparts, cohesion, cooperation and collective action are necessary after the departures of Brown, David Fleischhauer and Jason Wallace.

That leaves an inexperienced lineup of Bob Jones, Adams, Kennedy and Justin Kurpeikis on the front line of Tom Bradley's defense, which is grappling with the loss of its three starting linebackers and four defensive backs.

"Penn State is now 11 guys who are disciplined, tough and are going to play as one unit," Kurpeikis said. "And they are aggressive. If you key on any one of them, the other 10 are going to pick up the slack."

Kurpeikis, 6-foot-4, 255 pounds, is the lone returnee who started every contest last season and enters this campaign after posting nine sacks, 52 tackles (13 assisted, 13 for loss) and one forced fumble and one recovered fumble.

Then, there is Kennedy, a player who emerged after Wallace went down for the season in the Indiana contest. Kennedy compiled 33 tackles, one sack and six tackles for loss as a redshirt freshman last year.

Kennedy will accompany first-year starter Adams, a redshirt sophomore who saw the bulk of his action in the Alamo Bowl and posted four tackles last season.

Jones has made the transition to defensive end from tackle after starting in eight contests during his freshman season two years ago.

Michael Haynes also could compete for the starting position behind Jones. And Gholston, Tim Falls and Dave Jens will look to crack into the starting lineup. Dave Costlow enters his first season in the Blue and White after redshirting last season.