Alabama completed a sweep of the home-and-home series between the these two storied programs with a methodical and smothering performance reminiscent of last year’s 24-3 win in Tuscaloosa. Bama beat Penn State 27-11 on Saturday in a game that was not that close.
Both teams came into the second week of the season with unsettled quarterback issues. At Alabama (2-0), those now appear to be settled as AJ McCarron was 19 for 31 with no turnovers.
On the Nittany Lion side of the ball, Penn State fans might be wondering if either Robert Bolden or Matt McGloin are the answer at quarterback. They combined to go 12 for 39 for 144 yards. McGloin completed 1 of 10 for no yards. Bolden led a late scoring drive and threw an interception.
Led by defensive backs Dre Kirkpatrick and Robert Lester, the Tide defense held Penn State to 251 yards.
At one point in the third quarter, Alabama nearly intercepted five straight Penn State passes. The first two thrown by Bolden were called picks on the field, but did not stand up to video review. Lester couldn’t quite keep either from touching the ground. On the next series, McGloin relieved and Alabama defenders got a piece of all three of his throws.
Penn State used 16 plays, three timeouts and half the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead on the game’s first possession, thanks to Evan Lewis’ 43-yard field goal.
The Nittany Lions had one more first down in the half.
With the help of a faked punt and a kind spot, Alabama grabbed the lead late in the first quarter.
On fourth-and-less than a yard, Alabama snapped to upback Brad Smelley out of punt formation. The tight end plunged into the line and Penn State thought it had the ball back at the Crimson Tide 39. A measurement gave Alabama a first down by the nose of the ball, much to the dismay of the fans in white shirts.
With a second chance McCarron completed four passes, the last a laser to Williams.
Another long Alabama drive ended with Jason Shelley’s 22-yard field goal in the second quarter. He added an 18-yarder in the third quarter to make it 20-3.
Penn State avoided another game without a touchdown against Alabama when Silas Redd scored from the 1 with 1:53 left in the game and Bolden ran in a 2-point conversion.