• Game of the Week Preview: Penn State vs. Alabama

    On a weekend filled with big games - Florida State at Oklahoma, Miami at Ohio State, Michigan at Notre Dame, Oregon at Tennessee - our Game of the Week Preview highlights Penn State visiting the defending National Champions, Alabama in a battle between two of the most storied programs in college football.

    Penn State started Robert Golden at quarterback - the first true freshman to start at QB for the Nittany Lions in Joe Paterno's 45 year career - and led the team to a 44-14 win over Youngstown State. While the team trailed for much of the first half, they pulled away by scoring 41 unanswered points.

    Alabama will take the field in their first real test as defending National Champions. In their season opener, the Crimson Tide looked impressive in routing San Jose State 48-3. Reigning Heisman Trophy winner RB Mark Ingram did not play versus the Spartans as he recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery and may not play versus PSU. Defensive end Marcell Dareus sat out after being ruled ineligible for two games due to accepting improper benefits from an agent. The losses did not hurt the talented and loaded Alabama roster.

    Click Read More to see the NCAA Football 11 simulation video for Penn State vs. Alabama and also preview results for the weekend's other big games.


    Alabama 41, Penn State 17

    Player of the Game:
    HB Trent Richardson, Alabama – 22 attempts, 150 yards, 3 TD

    Leaders:

    Passing
    QB Greg, McElroy, Alabama – 29 of 35, 338 yards, 2 TD
    QB Robert Bolden, Penn State – 19 of 29, 270 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

    Rushing
    HB Trent Richardson, Alabama – 22 attempts, 150 yards, 3 TD
    HB Evan Royster, Penn State – 17 attempts, 82 yards

    Receiving
    WR Darius Hanks, Alabama – 10 receptions, 120 yards, 1 TD
    WR Graham Zug, Penn State – 6 receptions, 82 yards, 1 TD

    Scoring Summary

    1st Quarter
    4:08 FG Bama: J. Shelley, 34 yard FG

    2nd Quarter
    6:03 TD Bama: D. Hanks, 33 yard pass from G. McElroy (J. Shelley kick)
    4:09 TD PSU: G. Zug, 34 yard pass from R. Bolden (C. Wagner kick)
    1:54 TD Bama: T. Richardson, 1 yard run (J. Shelley kick)
    1:15 FG PSU: C. Wagner, 32 yard FG

    3rd Quarter
    4:45 FG Bama: J. Shelley, 34 yard FG
    1:48 TD Bama: B. Gibson, 7 yard pass from G. McElroy (J. Shelley kick)

    4th Quarter
    6:36 TD PSU: D. Moye, 3 yard pass from R. Bolden (C. Wagner kick)
    1:53 TD Bama: T. Richardson, 5 yard run (J. Shelley kick)
    0:57 TD Bama: T. Richardson, 39 yard run (J. Shelley kick)


    Other Game Simulations:
    Ohio State 20, Miami 10
    Oklahoma 31, Florida State 21
    Michigan 37, Notre Dame 23
    Tennessee 30, Oregon 24
    Comments 12 Comments
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Poll added.

      Who will win?

      - Penn State
      - Alabama
    1. morsdraconis's Avatar
      morsdraconis -
      Choose Alabama but I think it's going to be closer than people expect.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      I expect Bama to kill Penn State. I really think Penn State is in over it's head this year with a freshman QB and I think PSU won't have a good year either. They are missing quite a few guys from last year's team and I think there will be some major growing pains this year.
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Bama should win, fairly easily. I'm not sure of it enough to wager on the 12 point line though.

      I'm on record as saying I believe this PSU team will lose 2-4 games. Bama, Iowa, OSU all on the road and perhaps another one somewhere. This is a bit of a rebuilding year. I'm not sure how you define "a good year" for PSU, but 8 wins is not bad (if they win at least 8).

      EDIT: Just watched the video. Good job, cdj. Gonna request this again...consider putting the score/stats as a spoiler so the video can be watched without knowing the outcome.

      Couple questions...How many times did you have to sim this game to make PSU actually lose? (Don't you dare answer that, lol) And, did you sim those other games by watching CPU vs CPU or did those results come from a Dynasty where the game was mass-simmed? Just curious.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      What no Miami @ Ohio St.?
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Quote Originally Posted by steelerfan View Post
      EDIT: Just watched the video. Good job, cdj. Gonna request this again...consider putting the score/stats as a spoiler so the video can be watched without knowing the outcome.

      Couple questions...How many times did you have to sim this game to make PSU actually lose? (Don't you dare answer that, lol) And, did you sim those other games by watching CPU vs CPU or did those results come from a Dynasty where the game was mass-simmed? Just curious.
      - I meant to do that initially, but forgot. We'll definitely do that for next week and we will have it posted earlier in the week. As of now, there's no 'can't miss' big games next week, so we will have to wait until the weekend is through and see how things shake out.

      - The other results were simmed Play Now games using Iron Dragon's rosters....and would you believe it only took one sim to get the PSU result?

      Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
      What no Miami @ Ohio St.?
      - It was option 1A...G, JB, and I voted and Bama-PSU won 2-1 as GOTW. I think the historical relevance pushed it over.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      You were wrong. Game of the Week was FCS East versus Virginia Tech.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      Quote Originally Posted by JeffHCross View Post
      You were wrong. Game of the Week was FCS East versus Virginia Tech.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Simulation had Alabama by 24, actual was Crimson Tide by 21. I'm going to say that's another good week.
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      TGT GotW YTD:

      Straight Up: 2-0
      ATS: 2-0
      O/U: 1-1
    1. psusnoop's Avatar
      psusnoop -
      I'm not ready to bail on my 9-3 record though Robinson from UM is making me fear playing them this year. 8-4 could be what we are looking at but I love the heart that this young Freshman QB has. He didn't look rattled and showed a lot of poise for a 18yr old.

      Steelerfan, gotta ask...how bout those Steelers pulling that game out!


      Oh yea, I LOVE THIS STUFF, keep it coming guys!
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Quote Originally Posted by psusnoop View Post
      Steelerfan, gotta ask...how bout those Steelers pulling that game out!
      Well, that was a big one for the black-and-gold. I believe this nearly ensures at least a 2-2 start without Ben. It was a tough one to watch, but it was great to see the defense back to form. Here We Go!