1. It's a night game, and Labor Day is past. Still, it's the Deep South and early enough in the season for enough heat and humidity to make weather a factor in favor of the Crimson Tide.
"We had a pretty warm summer [in State College], even by my standards,'' said Penn State linebacker Mike Mauti, from Mandeville, La. "It got up to 95 a couple a days. But that humidity definitely will be a factor. We're taking that into consideration, and we'll be keeping on top of our hydration.''
2. Penn State hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher since Iowa's Shonn Greene went off for 117 yards on 28 carries on Nov. 8, 2008. The Nits will be out to extend that streak to 18 games, but keeping Trent Richardson in check might not be that easy.
"We're aware of [the streak],'' said defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu. "[Defensive line] coach [Larry] Johnson gives us about 10 goals for each game, and no 100-yard rusher is No. 1 all the time. It's a pride thing.''
3. The flip side of the 100-yard-rusher thing is that it would be really nice if Nits tailback Evan Royster, who had just 40 yards on 11 carries last week against Youngstown State, found enough creases to hit triple digits on the run-resistant Tide.
PREDICTION
Alabama 31, Penn State 14.
AGENDA
Who: No. 18 Penn State (1-0) at No. 1 Alabama (1-0)
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
TV: ESPN
Radio: WNTP (990-AM); WPNV (1440-AM)
History: The Crimson Tide leads the series, 8-5, although the Nittany Lions won the most recent meeting, in 1990, 9-0, in Tuscaloosa.
Coaches: Joe Paterno (45th season, 395-129-3); Nick Saban (fourth season at school; 29-8; 15th season overall, 120-50-1)
Penn State update: The Nits are 14-14 against Southeastern Conference teams since Joe Paterno became head coach in 1966, The SEC is the only conference against which JoePa has won less than 63 percent of his games, although he is 7-3 against the SEC in bowl games ... The Big Ten team that most reminds cornerback D'Anton Lynn of Alabama is Iowa. "They're similar," he said. "They don't have a fancy offense. They keep it pretty basic" ... That "hostile" environment the Nits will be facing? Maybe it won't be quite that unhospitable. "The people at Alabama love Penn State," says former PSU quarterback Todd Blackledge, now an ESPN analyst. "They love Joe and they love that rivalry. There's a real connection with Joe that the people of Alabama feel with [former Tide coach] Bear Bryant. There was obviously a lot of mutual respect between them."
Alabama update: Might be a tough night for Penn State tailback Evan Royster. Alabama hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 35 games, the last being Ole Miss' BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who gained 131 yards on Oct. 13, 2007 ... The Tide is 25-6 in games when it was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll ... Alabama has intercepted at least one pass in 12 consecutive games ... In addition to the unavailability of defensive end Marcell Dareus and the likely unavailability of Heisman Trophy-winning running back Mark Ingram (knee), standout linebacker Courtney Upshaw (ankle) is expected to be limited.
