To be fair, the Penn State defenders are, often times, overly critical of themselves.

If they break up a pass, they say it should have been an interception. When they make a stop, it should have been a tackle for a loss. And when they keep a team like Wisconsin out of the end zone 14 times, they lament the one time they did give up a touchdown.

"To be honest with you, we're really tough on ourselves," sophomore linebacker Paul Posluszny said.

But if there is one thing about which the Penn State defense should be tough on itself, allowing opponents' offenses to pound out long, sustained drives would certainly be it.

There was a 16-play, 74-yarder against Boston College that resulted in a touchdown. And there was one in the third quarter of the Wisconsin game that lasted 17 plays, knocked 7:59 off the clock and ended in a field goal.

"One of the biggest problems we have had is there has been one or two times in the games we have played that we lost that we let people have long drives, seven and eight-minute drives," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "It wasn't as if somebody was running down the field in five plays. We are talking 12, 13 and 14-play series. We couldn't quite make a play to make the stop when we had to do it."

But as much of a concern as slow-but-steady drives have been in each of the losses so far, when the Lions play Minnesota tomorrow the threat will be bigger than ever. The Golden Gophers have not one, but two dynamic tailbacks ready to scamper all over the field, and an offensive line that has allowed each of the inseparable backs -- Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III -- to average over 100 yards per game.

And, of course, there is the memory of Minnesota's 99-yard drive in Beaver Stadium last fall, an effort that took 12 plays and more than four minutes to put the Gophers up by two touchdowns. That's the kind of drive that saps the momentum from a team; the kind of drive the defense needs to cut short to feel satisfied -- or at least more satisfied -- with itself.

"We're not gonna be anything special until we make big plays, get off the field on third and long," Posluszny said.

That remark certainly isn't up for debate among the defensive guys. But the way in which to make those big plays is something about which those involved disagree.

Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley put the blame upon himself after the Wisconsin game, pointing to a few calls on the 73-yard drive he wanted to go back and change. Linebacker Tim Shaw pointed to the defense's errors, while safety Calvin Lowry said the problem is completely mental.

"It's not a factor of people being able to be tough and hit," Lowry said. "It's watching film and anticipating a play."

Posluszny, on the other hand, seemed to think it couldn't hurt if the team showed a bit more of a mean and nasty side.

"Once we become an aggressive, nasty defense, that's when we'll become pretty good," Posluszny said. "It's just a mindset -- in the past they might not have been the fastest guys, but they were the toughest."

Whatever the reason, the inability to halt lengthy processions downfield is the one issue of which this defense isn't being overly critical.

"We are not going to be a great defense," Paterno said, "until we can make a play in the clutch and turn the game around."