Penn State Will Come South With Beating Alabama On Their Mind

Having these spring games on ESPN has been a definite crowd pleaser for the hardcore football fan. This weekend brought Penn State in front of watchful eyes. As usual I watched this game from an SEC perspective.

I was also able to watch and analyze the Alabama spring game last weekend. This made for interesting comparisons of the two teams. There is little to be learned from spring games for any team.

The one thing spring games are good for are assessing a team's general progress toward being ready to play in September.

In this case, these two teams will play this September. There will be little time for scouting and preparation after the season starts. This an early season game.

The first and easiest point to see was that Penn State is much farther along with preparing their defense than Alabama. Their defensive backfield was much more efficient in covering routes.

The Penn State linebackers knew their positions better and put themselves in a positive position to make plays more often. This was very impressive this early in the year. One thing is certain; Penn State will have a capable defense in 2010.

While Alabama’s offensive line did not look impressive in their spring game, neither did Penn State’s.

Both teams have formidable defensive lines that were able to get pressure on the quarterback.  There was not a lot of difference in the quarterback play for the two teams.

Penn State was much more sure-handed in their receiving corps. There were fewer dropped balls than in the Alabama spring game. There were also many more contested and defended passes in the Penn State game.

Of course there are four months before taking the field for any game, but if these two teams played today, Penn State would likely win and do so handily.

This does not really say much about what will happen in September, but it does seem to give some conclusions.

Alabama is going to still be working on major fundamental problems in August while Penn State will be able to start working on the little things. It is the little things that allow a team to go into a hostile environment and come away with a win.

Alabama has big holes that still have no answer in the kicking game and offensive line. Penn State has holes, but they have good players in place to fill them; it is just a matter of picking the right one. All of the Penn State players filling new positions played good enough to win.

While the Alabama defensive line is formidable, the Penn State defensive line is just as formidable with three of four starters returning. They can feel confident in applying pressure on any quarterback.

The Alabama game with Penn State is no pushover. The Penn State offense has never depended on a quarterback. The same can be said this year. This is going to be a very stout contest for the Alabama team in Tuscaloosa this September.

Penn State will not come in and lay down for Alabama. They can stand toe to toe and head to head with Alabama and slug it out, and they will do just that.

If Alabama does not pick up the pace of improvement and pass Penn State, they will certainly have their hands full. 

If anything, I think the 2010 Penn State team will be better than the 2009 version that beat LSU a few short months ago.