Alabama's Saban says Bolden and Penn State impressive

When Nick Saban turned on the tape machine to watch Penn State quarterback Rob Bolden, he thought what a lot of other people thought: This guy's a freshman playing in his first collegiate game?

"He sure didn't play like a freshman last week," the coach of top-ranked Alabama said Monday. "He played extremely well, very poised, a good passer, athletic and very accurate."

Of course, as he watched Bolden, Saban probably was devising defenses designed to stop the 6-foot-3, 221-pounder when the Crimson Tide and the No. 19 Nittany Lions meet Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Throwing for 239 yards at home, as Bolden did Saturday in a 44-14 win against Youngstown State, is one thing. Dealing with the across-the-board talent of the Alabama defense before a hostile crowd of more than 100,000 is a much more difficult challenge.

Publicly, Saban, who coached the Crimson Tide to the 2009 national championship, stated how impressed he was with Bolden. The rookie, from Orchard Lake, Mich., completed 20 of 29 passes, two for touchdowns, and was named Monday as co-rookie of the week in the Big Ten.

"He played really well," Saban said. "You'd never know he was a freshman, that's for sure. He's got a very good arm. He's very accurate. He had a lot of poise.

"They didn't have any game-management issues - fumbled snaps, delay of games. He hard-counts like a veteran and draws the other team offsides. He didn't make really any bad decisions, stood in the pocket, took a couple of licks, and completed balls. It's hard to believe the guy's a freshman watching him play that game."

Joe Paterno, however, didn't appear immediately ready to commit to Bolden as his starter in Tuscaloosa, and the Penn State coach is not expected to commit to him Tuesday at his weekly teleconference.

Saban said he was not going to make any predictions on whether 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, the junior running back who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last Tuesday, would be available, but he sounded more pessimistic than optimistic.

"I need to see him being 100 percent and practice enough to be confident," Saban said. "I don't anticipate that's going to happen. I anticipate Mark making progress every day, and we'll evaluate his progress on a daily basis. . . . What I have to see, I've got to see Mark being Mark."