No. 1 Crimson Tide hosting No. 18 Penn State

The Crimson Tide renews an old rivalry tonight when they welcome Penn State to Bryant-Denny Stadium.

It will be the first time the teams have met since 1990.

Alabama looked impressive in its win against San Jose State last week, but the Nittany Lions — ranked 18 in the Associate Press poll and 14 in the USA Today poll — are a much stronger program than the lowly Spartans.

Freshman quarterback Rob Bolden completed 20-of-29 passes for 239 yards last week to earn Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week honors.

His main target was Brett Brackett, who set career highs in receptions (eight), yards (98) and touchdowns (two). Tailback Evan Royster was First-Team Big Ten last season.

Royster will be facing an Alabama team that has not allowed a 100-yard rusher during the last 35 games. The last time a running back recorded a 100-yard game against the Crimson Tide was Oct. 13, 2007.

This will be a big test for the Alabama defense, which lost nearly all of its starters from last season. Dont’a Hightower recorded three tackles in the season opener last week.

The Alabama offense looked good last week, scoring 48 points and rolling up 591 yards of total offense.

Coach Nick Saban said the offense would likely be without reigning Heisman Trophy winning running back Mark Ingram. That should not be much of a problem as Trent Richardson rushed for 66 yards and a pair of touchdowns against San Jose State while Eddie Lacy ran for 113 yards.

Quarterback Greg McElroy passed for 218 yards, completing 13-of-16 pass attempts with no interceptions.

Trying to stop the Crimson Tide offense will be Penn State’s defense, which is led by linebackers Chris Colasanti and Bani Gbadyu. Colasanti recorded 13 tackles last week while Gbadyu had eight tackles.

Alabama leads the series 8-5, but Penn State has won two of the three games played in Tuscaloosa. Nittany Lion head coach Joe Paterno has been on the sidelines for all of the previous 13 meetings between the programs.