What a game by the Crimson Tide. Trent Richardson is an animal. I saw enough of him last week to know he was good, but I was amazed with how much trouble Penn State had in bringing him down. Their offensive line was opening some nice holes, McElroy was perfect, and their receivers made plays. Even Nick Saban was a class act in punting on 4th-and-1 at the PSU 33 late in the fourth quarter.
Well done, Alabama. I didn't think you deserved to be the No. 1 team in the country, but you convinced me. I'll be an Alabama fan for the rest of the season.
Now for some perspective for Penn State. We went into this game thinking this would be a loss. We went into this season thinking this would be a loss. And here we are with a loss. Nobody should be shocked by this. Penn State has a young team with a true freshman quarterback. I keep saying this team is a two year project. We're in game two of that project, so this was to be expected.
Penn State played tough throughout the game. It wasn't like they fell down by 28 points in the second quarter and Alabama still scored three touchdowns after calling off the dogs. Alabama had to work for all of their yards and all of their points. The Penn State offense moved the ball on some long drives, but like an inexperienced team playing in a hostile environment they made costly mistakes with turnover in the redzone.
It was a good learning experience for Rob Bolden, who I thought played well minus the few mistakes in the redzone. There were a lot of positive things he can take from this experience, and I'm sure he's going to be a good quarterback in the future.
Now it's time to regroup and get ready for the Big Ten schedule. The next two weeks bring Kent State and Temple to Happy Valley. This will be a good opportunity for Bolden to mature and the offensive line to come together.
Hold your head up, Nittany Nation. I promise the sun will come up tomorrow.