It's kind of rare, right? Two linebackers as the top two tacklers for Penn State?

Well, defensive coordinator Tom Bradley certainly thinks so.

"I think this is the first year in a long time," he said, "that some linebackers have led us in tackles."

"Some linebackers," being, of course, sophomore Paul Posluszny, who recorded 104 tackles, and freshman Dan Connor, who had 85. And the thing about two linebackers leading the team in tackles is that it worked out pretty darn nicely -- nicely enough to take last year's next-to-worst-in-the-Big Ten run defense and turn it into a very respectable one that allowed only nine rushing touchdowns on the season.

"I wasn't sure how we would play against the run in certain situations this year," Bradley said. "Probably the biggest area for us that made us a better football team -- no question the down guys have played better, but I expected that from them because that's a pretty good group of kids -- you'd have to say that Paul and Dan inside, having runners like that."

The case has been made that Posluszny and Connor have an uncanny ability to zoom to the ball, to be sure, but for their defensive coordinator to single out their nearly flawless play as a reason this defense was so much better than last year -- well, that's a little something special.

Fortunately for them, they got at least some of the external recognition they deserved, as Posluszny was named to the second team of the All-Big Ten squad by both the coaches and the media, while Connor was selected to the first team of the Rivals.com Freshman All-America team.

Not that they think anything of the way they played, of course. Posluszny, for one, put any and all of the success on the defensive coaches. "It's all in the coaches," he said. "They line us up, they put us in the right spots to make plays."

And Connor, meanwhile -- when made available to the media -- simply brushed it all off, instead talking about how he has a long way to go, how he needs to get bigger and stronger (he's just 218 pounds now) until he's about Posluszny's size (just under 230).

Their teammates, at least, think something of the way they played, and they make that apparent at almost any opportunity. When cornerback Alan Zemaitis, who joined Posluszny on the All-Big Ten second team, was asked what the difference was in this year's defense as compared to last year's, he didn't hesitate a bit.

"We don't give up, and we stop the run," he said. "We got linebackers that shut down the run."

And those same coaches whom Posluszny credited with putting him in the right spot to make plays, well, they think, perhaps, it's a bit more than just being in the right place.

"The way they accelerate towards the ball," Bradley said, "they're able to close the gaps and be out of position a little bit and make plays."

And if they could do that this year, and if these two young linebackers were the reason the run defense was so far improved from last year, imagine, for a second, what else can be accomplished in the ample time they have remaining at Penn State. Don't get too carried away though -- because they aren't. Posluszny just had this to offer, about the team in general: "We're going to do some special things," he said.

That's a good way of thinking for a team that finished 4-7. But for Posluszny himself, and for his fellow young 'backer, they've already done some of those special things -- the way they played this season, all the time, more than qualifies as special.

Notes: Posluszny and Zemaitis were joined on the All-Big Ten second team by defensive end Tamba Hali, while safety Andrew Guman and punter Jeremy Kapinos were honorable mention selections.