Last year, Penn State's defense stood as a bastion of hope throughout an otherwise hopeless season, but, entering Saturday's game against Minnesota, most of the talk in 2005 had been about the Nittany Lions' revamped offense.

It was the offense that had pulled out a close victory against Northwestern with a last-second drive. And, leading up to the contest with the Golden Gophers, the biggest question about the Nittany Lions defense was how it would stop the nation's top rusher, Laurence Maroney, after getting gashed for 200-plus yards against the Wildcats.

Apparently the Nittany Lions took the lack of respect personally.

"Each game this season is personal to us, man," defensive end Matthew Rice said after the game.

"We're trying to just take it each game at a time, but each game is personal."

Rice had raised eyebrows earlier in the week by saying that he and his defensive counterparts planned to put an end to Maroney's Heisman hype, but the defense backed up Rice's mouth, holding Maroney to 48 yards on 16 carries.

"Maroney came in as a Heisman candidate; we weren't trying to let him to run for 100 yards, 200 yards," defensive end Tamba Hali said.

That possibility had seemed very reasonable after Maroney ripped Purdue for 217 yards on 47 carries in an upset of the then-No. 11 Boilermakers the week before.

However, Penn State's defense never allowed him to get into any kind of rhythm.

Interestingly enough, Penn State's best defense against Maroney -- and thus the Minnesota offense -- may have been the success of its own offense.

The Lions dominated the Gophers in time of possession in the first half and allowed the Minnesota offense only nine offensive snaps in the first quarter.

By the time Minnesota got its initial first down, Penn State already had put up a 17-0 lead and this severely limited the Gophers' run-based offensive attack.

"I think the key to today's game was that we weren't on the field for as many plays as I thought we would be," Penn State defensive coach Tom Bradley said.

"When the offense is taking the ball and driving it down the field with long drives, that's the best thing of all for our defense."

The Nittany Lions defense undoubtedly benefited from the extra rest that the offense provided, but still made it a point of emphasis to control an obviously frustrated Maroney when it was on the field.

"I told them today, maybe they're the best running team in the history of football, but not today," Bradley said. "Today we are the best defense in the country; I told them that before the game. I said, 'Just hang in there and he may be great, but not today.' "

Maroney's frustration on the ground became evident as early as the first quarter of the game, after Penn State's defense had already held the Gophers to three-and-outs on their first two series.

After taking a pitch on third-and-2, Maroney attempted to plow through the middle of the Penn State defense rather than follow Minnesota center Greg Eslinger who was pulling to the right.

Maroney was met by Rice and Hali, who stuffed the play before he could reach the first-down marker thereby forcing the Gophers' second-straight three-play drive.

"I think he was frustrated as soon as he got off of the plane," Rice said.

The next time Maroney would carry the football, his team would be behind, 10-0.

"That's what we were challenged with -- stopping Maroney," Rice said. "There has been a lot of talk back and forth between both squads and, from what I'm hearing, he said a couple of words that wasn't shown true today. I definitely heard that he was going to run through me and the D-line and that's family, we all watch each others' backs."

Penn State's defensive line also managed to control the game in the trenches, quite a feat against an offensive line as strong and highly touted as Minnesota's.

"I thought the front four and the linebackers played a great football game today and that's what they had to do to win," Bradley said. "That's a great offensive line."

As for Minnesota, once their ground game proved ineffective against Penn State, Mason knew his team was in for a long day.

"We kind of live by the run, and I guess if you don't run the ball, you die by the run," he said.