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No. 3 Alabama Downs No. 23 Penn State, 27-11
Trent Richardson rushes for 111 yards in the victory
STATE
COLLEGE, Pa. - The No. 3 football team (2-0) came away with a 27-11
victory over the 23rd-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (1-1) on Saturday
at Beaver Stadium before a crowd of 107,846. The Crimson Tide had 359
yards of total offense, 194 rushing and 165 receiving, while the
defense forced a pair of fumbles and collected one interception in the
game.
Junior running back Trent Richardson led the Tide offense
with 111 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns, while sophomore
running back Eddie Lacy added another 85 yards on the ground.
Richardson has now eclipsed the 100-yards rushing milestone for the
fifth time in his career. Sophomore quarterback AJ McCarron was
19-for-31 in the game for 163 yards, one touchdown and zero
interceptions.
Senior safety Mark Barron and sophomore
linebacker C.J. Mosley led the defense with seven total tackles each,
while junior cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was responsible for both forced
fumbles.
Penn State got on the board first as it used 16 plays
to go 54 yards in the game's opening drive that resulted in a 43-yard
field goal. From there, Alabama posted 27 straight points holding the
Nittany Lions scoreless until the end of the fourth quarter.
A
five-yard pass from McCarron to junior tight end Michael Williams gave
the Tide its first of three touchdowns on the afternoon with 25 seconds
remaining on the play clock in the first quarter. Alabama then took a
10-3 edge at the 10:08 mark of the second thanks to a 22-yard field
goal from junior kicker Jeremy Shelley.
The Tide defense came up
big on Penn State's third drive of the quarter as Kirkpatrick forced a
fumble that was recovered by senior cornerback DeQuan Menzie setting up
for Alabama's second touchdown of the game. The Tide strung together 10
plays for 50 yards, that ended with a three-yard run from Richardson
for the score and the 17-3 lead heading into halftime.
Alabama
picked up where it left off, scoring on the first drive of the second
half as it went 11 plays for 50 yards ending in an 18-yard field goal
for Shelley. The Tide's final score would come with 6:14 left in the
fourth as Richardson drove in his second touchdown of the afternoon
with a 13-yard run to put Alabama in front 27-3.
Penn State
closed out the game with a touchdown and successful two-point
conversion attempt with just under two minutes remaining.
The
Tide defense limited the Nittany Lions to 250 total yards (106 rushing,
144 passing) marking the 31st time in 56 games under Alabama head coach
Nick Saban that the opposition has collected less than 300 yards of
total offense.
Alabama returns home on Saturday, Sept. 17, when
it hosts North Texas in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Kickoff is slated for
6:30 p.m. CT.
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