Alabama at Penn State Line
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the N0. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide will go on the road to face the No. 23 Penn State Nittany Lions. Both teams had no trouble disposing of their opening week opponents. Alabama crushed Kent St 48-7 while Penn State won 41-7 over Indiana State. These two teams faced off in Alabama last year, with the Crimson Tide winning 24-3. The game is scheduled for 3:30 ET and will be televised nationally on ABC.
Current odds have Alabama favored by 10-points over Penn State with the total set at 43.5.
Alabama
While the Crimson Tide had no trouble against an outmatched Kent State team, there is definitely some room for improvement on the offensive side of the ball. Alabama used both A.J. McCarron and Phillip Sims at quarterback early. Even though both quarterbacks threw two interceptions, McCarron had the better game throwing for 226 yards and touchdown compared to Sims’ 73 yards without a score.
Outside of Alabama turning the ball over five times in the opener, the biggest surprise was Trent Richardson’s 37 rushing yards on 13 attempts. The Heisman candidate did score three rushing touchdowns, but that was not the performance everyone expected to see against Kent State. If Richardson doesn’t get going against the Nittany Lions, look for Eddie Lacey and Jalston Fowler to get more carries (combined for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns).
One player that really had a nice game was wide out Marquiz Maze, who caught eight passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. He is now the go to receiver with Julio Jones out of the picture, and will be counted on to make some big plays against the Nittany Lions.
Defensively Alabama was outstanding in the opener. They allowed just six first downs the entire game and held the Falcons to just 90 yards of total offense (-9 rushing yards). This unit is going to be extremely tough to score on all season, and figure to make life miserable for Penn State offense.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions also have a battle going at quarterback, as Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin both played in the opener. McGloin completed 6 of 8 for 77 yards while Bolden went 6 of 12 for just 37 yards. Neither quarterback threw a touchdown, and the lack of anything from these two has to be a huge concern going into their game against the Crimson Tide.
Penn State racked up 245 yards and five touchdowns on the ground against Indiana State, but don’t figure to have anywhere near that kind of success against Alabama. Sophomore Silas Redd led the way with 104 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
Senior wide out Derek Moye led the team with four catches for 57 yards, but was just one of two players who had more than one catch. With how good Alabama is against the run, Moye and the rest of the receiving corps better come to play if the Nittany Lions plan on putting up points offensively.
Defensively the Nittany Lions played a pretty solid game, allowing just 170 yards of total offense. A lot of pressure will be on the defense to really play well this week. They have to take advantage of any mistakes the Alabama offense gives them and have to make sure they don’t allow any big plays.
Betting Trends:
Alabama is 7-0 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games, but are just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Penn State is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games as a home underdog of 3.5-10.0, but are just 1-9 ATS in their last 10 games in September.
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