Rising to the occasion is a common theme this year for the Penn State defensive line.

So, it's no surprise that after hearing they were called soft by an opposing coach, the line went out and held Virginia to 65 yards.

"You don't want to give us motivation," defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy said. "I don't know why other guys do that."

It could be a hangover from the beginning of the year, when the Penn State defensive unit as a whole was very soft.

Opponents were averaging 415 yards of total offense per game through the first four games of the season.

After the fourth game, an overtime loss at Beaver Stadium to Iowa, Kennedy publicly questioned his team's passion.

The media, in turn, publicly questioned Kennedy, who, at the time, had registered just 13 tackles according to official statistics.

(Penn State has since changed its statistics policy and uses the totals compiled by the coaches based on game film. Under that system, Kennedy had 22 tackles heading into the Wisconsin game.)

Kennedy responded by registering four sacks against Wisconsin, prompting the "we lit a fire" bragging from some media.

"You guys [the media] were proud of saying you motivated me and everything," he said. "But you want to know what motivated me? Wendell Bryant came in here and did that to us last year. That was my motivation."

Since the Iowa game, Penn State is allowing 281 yards per game, an improvement of 131 yards per game. Opponents are averaging 74 yards per game on the ground over the last six games after averaging almost 142 the first four games.

Opponent passing yardage is down to 207 yards per game, a 67-yard improvement over the first four contests.

A radical improvement, to say the least.

"I think you'd have to say this is one of the hungrier groups we've had," said Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley.

"They're flying to the ball. We have guys that want to make hits."

Michael Haynes registered 12.5 sacks already and is well in range of breaking Larry Kubin's single-season record of 15 sent in 1979. Haynes has also forced six fumbles, a Penn State record.

The defense has forced 10 fumbles, recovered eight of them and intercepted 15 passes. Last year's group caused just 12 turnovers all year.

Safety Shawn Mayer leads the Big Ten with 120 tackles per game and is a big reason the defense has been dominant at stopping the run. Hero Chris Harrell's ability to find the running back in the backfield is often overlooked. He has four tackles for loss and is one of the hardest hitters on the team.

The defensive line has been bolstered by good depth, with senior Tim Falls anchoring a second-team that often plays against the other team's top unit.

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