Who would have thought -- Al Golden calls Penn State's defensive line soft and Anthony Adams agrees.

According to Adams and fellow defensive lineman Jimmy Kennedy, Penn State's defensive line coach Larry Johnson Sr. told his players before the game that Golden, the Cavaliers defensive coordinator who was Penn State's linebacker coach in 2000, called the Lions' line soft before the game.

After the Lions held Virginia to 65 rushing yards and sacked quarterback Matt Schaub four times, Golden was probably singing a different tune. While the man himself wasn't around to answer questions after the game, a few of the Cavaliers seemed to think the Lions defensive line was tough.

Virginia coach Al Groh conceded his team couldn't match the Lions' power and called defensive end Michael Haynes, who had three sacks, a 'big blankitty-blank problem.' Virginia receiver Billy McMullen called Penn State's defense the best he had played in college.

Still, Adams won't disagree with the Golden's assessment, provided it's framed correctly.

"After 35-14 it's kind of hard to say we're soft," Adams said. "In the first half I think they had a minus in front of their [rushing] yards so if that's soft, I think we're pretty soft."

Then there's the question of the accuracy of Johnson's information. He told his players that Golden told Johnson's brother about the softy remarks. Now, Johnson wouldn't be trying to play psychological mastermind would he?

Haynes said he trusted in the legitimacy of Johnson's allegations, but Kennedy seemed less sure.

"I think it was coach Johnson's way of motivating us," Kennedy said. "He said that Al Golden told his brother that we were soft, I said, 'Told your brother?' "

Regardless of what Golden said, his alleged words did plenty to fire Kennedy and his linemates up.

"I had to go out there and prove it," Kennedy said. "I don't think I'm soft, a lot of people don't think I'm soft and I guarantee Virginia don't think I'm soft after today."

After yet another dominating defensive performance, the Lions think their recent work has erased the memory of their poor start earlier in the season, such as the 24 points they let up against Central Florida.

While the unit has always been capable of coming up with big plays, its greatly improved performance on third down (the Cavaliers only converted 6 of 11 chances), really moved the Lions into the country's elite.

"I think we're the best in the Big Ten," Kennedy said. "We had to find ourselves early, but I think we're definitely the best in the Big Ten."

At least they're not talking like a bunch of softies.