Healthy Lee is a blur for Penn St.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Sean Lee erased any lingering doubts about his surgically repaired right knee by smothering Syracuse.

He was a blue-and-white blur Saturday for Penn State — leveling tailbacks on passes out of the backfield, tackling runners coming up the middle and chasing shifty quarterback Greg Paulus out of the pocket.

The final stat line for Lee read 13 tackles, including three for losses, and one sack.

For Penn State, the senior captain means so much more than numbers.

“He’s a leader and a coach on the field,” fellow linebacker Josh Hull said. “Everything you need him to do, he’s doing so far.”

That would be leading a stingy defense that has held opponents scoreless in the first half for each of the season’s first two games. The Nittany Lions rose two spots to tie Mississippi at No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll released Sunday, a day after a 28-7 win over the Orange.

Lee, who missed last season, reassured reporters again after Saturday’s game that his knee is not a problem. He’s also getting lots of help from the rest of the Nittany Lions.

Penn State’s front four, spearheaded by tackle Jared Odrick, is getting good pressure on opposing quarterbacks, albeit non-conference foes with inferior offensive lines.

A revamped secondary, with four different starters than last season, has had a solid debut, and ended Orange wideout Mike Williams’ 10-game streak with a touchdown catch.

Lee and Hull are leading the way at linebacker, with Nathan Stupar and Bani Gbadyu filling in admirably while the third starter, Navorro Bowman, is sidelined with a right groin pull.

It was the linebackers’ responsibility to help make sure Paulus, the former Duke point guard, didn’t get out of the pocket for big plays.

It worked for the most part, as Syracuse turned to short, quick passes to move the ball, though the overmatched Orange couldn’t generate a running game or throw a deep ball.

A noted perfectionist, Lee isn’t satisfied.

“I think I’ve done good things. Still, I missed a tackle today,” he said. “It would’ve been a tackle for a loss. ... But I feel good. I feel like I’m picking it up quicker than I thought I would.”

It’s understandable if he feels a little rusty. The right knee injury during spring practice in 2008 forced him to the sideline for Penn State’s run to the Rose Bowl later that season, when he served as a cheerleader and unofficial coach.

His frantic arm-waving had him looking like a carbon copy of his just-as-animated defensive coordinator, Tom Bradley.