They're the guys who talk, in the post-game interviews, about the onus being on them, about the small things -- individual plays, a specific block here and there -- over which they're kicking themselves.

When they're brilliant, they play it down, and when they're only solid, they're upset.

They're the guys of the Penn State defense, of course, and, they fell into that "solid" category Saturday against Northwestern, meaning that, true to form, they were critical of themselves. But though they're perfectionists for the most part and though they held the opponent to just 14 points, they were right in the sense that the Wildcats were able to employ an offensive scheme that had some success in picking apart the Nittany Lions defense in its most vulnerable areas.

"[Northwestern was] taking advantage of little, small things that we might not have been so good at in that point in the game," safety Paul Cronin said. "We weren't playing that smart, we weren't tackling that great, and they saw spots where they could hit us at, and they kind of just got us there."

The Wildcats set up the pass attack in the first quarter, with 92 yards in the air, which then opened up the ground for tailback Noah Herron to run wild.

By the end of the day, their spread offense had racked up 391 net yards -- 205 yards in the air and 186 rushing yards.

The key to Northwestern's pass game was taking advantage of the times when Penn State used zone defense. The targets were the seams between the zones, where there were gaps between defenders, and the Wildcats ran cross routes into those seams.

"They couldn't play us man-up, so they tried to get us whenever we were in zone to try to find little pockets," cornerback Alan Zemaitis said.

"That's where they were hitting crosses; they were hitting crosses all day."

"That's why it seemed like it was the same play hit every single time to the same player -- he either was dropping it or catching it."

It was this kind of plan that worked especially well at the end of the second half, in which Northwestern drove 43 yards in 31 seconds with quick passes to set up a field goal that was blocked by defensive tackle Scott Paxson.

The Wildcats also had a scheme on the ground that allowed Herron to rush for 175 yards after the passing game had been set up. Though the defensive line has been able to stop the run all year, a noticeable difference from last season, Northwestern presented a new challenge. Two offensive linemen sealed the end of the defensive line by blocking the defensive end, but instead of the tailback cutting through that immediate hole, he ran out to the sideline before cutting up and moving downfield.

"I feel like they were turn blocking -- like turning out on the end," defensive end Tamba Hali said. "Usually teams will cut it up quick ... and they would turn it up way outside. They were able to get a good hole out there."

Of course, for such a well-devised offensive scheme, Northwestern only had two touchdowns to show for it -- a containment that the defense wasn't thrilled by, but a solid effort of which it recognized the importance.

"I mean, I look at it like if we weren't trying to make this a defensive game every game, we would be getting blown out," Zemaitis said. "If we're slacking, at all, it could get ugly out there."