STATE COLLEGE - This time last year, Paul Posluszny was a freshman preparing for his first collegiate start. Dan Connor was gearing up for the state high school playoffs.

Now, Connor and Posluszny are the cornerstones of Penn State's defense, and the most likely candidates to return Penn State (3-7, 1-6 Big Ten) to the status it once held as Linebacker U.

"Our linebackers might be young, but we know that they're going to produce," defensive tackle Scott Paxson said. "These guys can play football."

Connor, who plays inside, is the younger of the two. Although he has only three starts, and missed one game with a shoulder injury, the true freshman has 74 tackles so far this year, 45 of them solo, both good for second-best on the team.

Even coach Joe Paterno, in his 39th season as Penn State's head coach, can't explain what makes Connor so good so young.

"Connor makes plays that you would think he is a fifth-year guy making," Paterno said. "How and why he makes them, if I took him out and said, 'How come you did that,' he wouldn't have the slightest idea what led him to that play. He did it because he did it."

The only Nittany Lion with more tackles than Connor is Posluszny, who leads the team with 46 solo and 89 total stops, including three sacks, which ties for team-high honors.

"Those two guys are amazing," said Derek Wake, a senior linebacker and team captain.

Penn State once was stocked with amazing linebackers. Dennis Onkotz was the first of seven Nittany Lion linebackers to be named All-Americans, earning the honor twice, in 1968 and '69. In 2001, LaVar Arrington was the second pick in the NFL draft - beaten only by his teammate on the line, Courtney Brown - and Brandon Short went in the fourth round.

But Short was the last Penn State linebacker to be drafted. Even the 2002 defense, which had five players selected in the first two rounds, was thin at linebacker.

Until this year, when Posluszny and Connor began to emerge as the top stoppers on the defense.

Connor had 11 tackles last week at Indiana. Again, the only player who was better was Posluszny, who had 13 tackles, including one sack, one other tackle for loss and a pass broken up.

In fact, it was Posluszny who was most responsible for Penn State's game-winning goal-line stand. The Hoosiers had first-and-goal on the 1-yard line, and gave the ball to Chris Taylor three times. On his first try, Taylor ran into Ed Johnson for no gain. On his second try, Posluszny caught Taylor behind the line of scrimmage. The Hoosiers tried a quarterback sneak, to no avail.

With the game on the line, Indiana went back to Taylor again - but Posluszny stopped him at the 1, turning the ball over and allowing the Nittany Lions to run out the clock.

"Those guys are going to be some of the best linebackers I think that have played here, once it's all said and done," senior safety Andrew Guman said. "And they're great guys as well. They're what Penn State's all about."