Are the Crimson Tide in danger of suffering a rare home loss to Penn State on Saturday night? Oddsmakers don’t really think so as Alabama is a 12-point favorite on WagerWeb.com. But the Tide will be without star RB Mark Ingram and DE Marcell Dareus, certainly making an upset possible.
Of course Dareus is serving the second of his two-game suspension after the school chose not to appeal to get it lowered to just one game earlier this week. Ingram, the reigning Heisman winner, missed the opener after having minor knee surgery and isn’t quite yet ready to play. Trent Richardson ran for 66 yards and two scores against San Jose State last week despite sitting out the second half. He will start again.
Penn State started a true freshman at QB, Robert Bolden, for the first time in an opener last week against Youngstown State. And Bolden earned another start at least after going 20 of 29 passes for 239 yards, two TDs and an interception in the 44-14 win. RB Evan Royster had 40 yards on 11 carries, leaving him 42 yards short of becoming the sixth Penn State player to rush for 3,000 career yards. One concern in that game was Youngstown State’s redshirt freshman QB Kurt Hess completed 21 of 25 passes, including an 80-yard touchdown against the Nittany Lions.
Alabama can match its fourth longest home winning streak of 16 games with a win, accomplished twice before (ending in 1940 and 1963). Penn State is 8-1 on the road over the past two seasons.
The Crimson Tide lead the series 8-5 but the Nittany Lions own a 2-1 edge in Tuscaloosa with a 23-3 win in 1986 and a 9-0 victory in 1990. PSU head coach Joe Paterno has been on the sidelines for all 13 meetings between the two schools, the first coming in the 1959 Liberty Bowl while Paterno was still a Nittany Lion assistant coach. Paterno is 4-8 as the Penn State head coach against Alabama.
The Nittany Lions are 4-8 under Paterno against No. 1 teams. They haven’t beaten a top-ranked opponent since toppling Notre Dame on Nov. 17, 1990.
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