No surprise: Penn State no match for Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The script went as expected Saturday night. But that didn't mean Joe Paterno had to be content with it.

Alabama, with a bunch of playmakers on offense, played like the nation's No. 1 team. The red-clad Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd was loud and hostile. And Penn State's freshman quarterback, not surprisingly, played like a freshman.

Rob Bolden threw two critical interceptions, with both passes picked off inside the Alabama 20, and the 18th-ranked Nittany Lions committed a total of four turnovers in falling, 24-3, to the Crimson Tide in front of an earsplitting crowd of 101,821.

Paterno couldn't stomach the mistakes, which he hates more than anything, and was terse with reporters in what was a short postgame interview.

"I'm in no mood," the coach said.

Paterno's foul disposition was a result of two interceptions and a fumble in the red zone, and a final pick on a gadget play when wide receiver Justin Brown threw a wobbler that ended up in the hands of an Alabama player.

The Penn State players weren't real happy, either.

"I'm not saying that we don't have leaders, but somebody has to step up when we're down and make a play," tailback Stephfon Green said. "We didn't do that today. I didn't do it. The whole team didn't do it. We got our behinds kicked, and that's not a good feeling."

Bolden, who made a spectacular debut the previous week in front of a friendly crowd and a lower-caliber opponent, threw the two passes that were intercepted at the 3- and 13-yard lines of the Crimson Tide. On both throws, Bolden was a millisecond away from being hit by the Alabama pass rush.

Wide receiver Chaz Powell also made a miscue when he fumbled the football at the Alabama 12 after catching a short pass from Bolden.

"When we look at the tape, we're going to be sick," quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said, "because there were a lot of clutch plays where they made the play and we didn't in the red zone. We moved the ball pretty well, but we've got to finish drives off. We left 14 points out there, maybe a little bit more."

Bolden fumbled two snaps, both while crouched behind center, and the Nittany Lions had to use three time-outs when plays were late coming in from the bench. He finished 13 of 29 for 144 yards. Derek Moye caught three passes, including a 31-yarder, the longest of Bolden's young career.

The running game didn't help. Although they finished with 127 rushing yards, the Nittany Lions didn't run effectively early.

As it was, the Lions (1-1) didn't score until Collin Wagner booted a 36-yard field goal with 9 minutes, 47 seconds remaining.

The Crimson Tide (2-0) controlled the first half, rolling up 288 yards and taking a 17-0 lead. Sophomore Trent Richardson, filling in for injured Mark Ingram, the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, picked up 144 yards on 22 carries and scored a touchdown.

Richardson became the first opposing runner to rush for 100 yards against Penn State since Iowa's Shonn Greene in 2008, a run of 17 games.

Lions defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said Richardson, with a combination of speed and power not seen since the days of a young Herschel Walker, reminded him of a few Big Ten backs, including Greene, and lamented his team's number of missed tackles.

"He's an excellent back, and that offensive line does a good job," Bradley said. "They've got good people at the skill positions and they obviously run a very efficient offense. [But] I would venture to say we were at least - at least - double digits in missed tackles."

Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy passed for two touchdowns and completed 16 of 24 passes for 229 yards.

Bolden's first interception came on a third-down play from the Crimson Tide 20. Linebacker Dont'a Hightower hit him just as he threw, and the ball floated to where safety Will Lowery intercepted it at the Penn State 3. The Tide drove 97 yards to their second TD, a 14-yard pass from McElroy to Preston Dial.

"We had a little slipup with this game," Green said. "We'll watch this film on Monday. They just woke up a sleeping giant."