Alabama Shreds Penn State, But the Future's Bright for the Nittany Lions

Right, the biggest game of the season is over and yours truly can now think a bit more clearly about Penn State's season.

The season isn't over because the Lions had their butt kicked by Alabama tonight 24-3. Name me a defense that WOULD have been able to cope with Trent Richardson tonight. Florida? Ohio State? Iowa? Unlikely. It helps that he benches 450lb and squats 600lb—the guy's got more power than He-Man.

There is a good white and blue defense out there, Penn State Nation. It never gave up. It never stopped battling. You just can't legislate for a midget freak who broke Emmitt Smith's rushing records in high school and will probably rip apart Mark Ingram's at Alabama, too. He also received for 46 yards, too, and destroyed the secondary on short yardage outs.

This sounds nasty, but Mark Ingram's got a battle on his hands to get his starting position back in Tuscaloosa the way this kid Richardson plays.

The good news is that the offensive future is sweet, people.

Frosh quarterback Robert Bolden looked like Joe Montana for 80 yards and in the last 20, he looked like Anthony Morelli or [name bad Penn State QB here]. But he'll learn. He made some horrible mistakes—including two interceptions that would make most people with non-receding hairlines pull their hair out.

At running back, Penn State looks deeeeeeeeeep. Evan Royster might not be the No. 1 after today's effort, where he ran for just 32 yards and looked slow. Funnily enough, when Silas Redd got the ball and attacked Alabama with speed, the future looked better and more exciting. More Silas, less Evan please. Unless Evan can suddenly grow some speed and get those yards that'll make him PSU's top-ever rusher. He hasn't started well, has he?

Receiving wise, things are OK. While Derek Moye, Devon Smith, and Justin Brown can all hold their heads up high, Graham Zug has got to get determined. His awful drop in the second half summed up the game (it looked great for a bit, and then the final execution fell apart). He will improve. After all, Amish Lightning, if you don't, you'll be barn building in Lancaster instead of barn burning in the NFL, kid.

And finally, the coaching. You can criticize (and people have) the play-calling of Joe Paterno/Jay Paterno/Tom Bradley/Galen Hall all you want, but to be honest, they were pretty perfect today. In another world, there wouldn't have been three touchdowns and the game would have been a hell of a lot closer. To be fair, Trent Richardson was already LIVING in that other word.

Other point?

Thumbs up to the Alabama faithful for giving Joe Paterno a huge cheer and round of applause on his way back to the dressing room at half-time. Some SEC schools who've won the title in the last five years can be classy, after all.

The future's bright, Penn State Nation. So let's not get too disheartened, eh?