Alabama starts BCS title defense with rout of San Jose State
NCAA Football Betting Lines
09/04/2010 - Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eddie Lacy and Trent Richardson each rushed for a pair of touchdowns, and top-ranked Alabama began defense of its BCS national title with a 48-3 win over San Jose State.
Greg McElroy and A.J. McCarron each had a TD pass for the Crimson Tide (1-0), who were without two key players. Heisman Trophy winning running back Mark Ingram sat out after undergoing surgery on his left knee Tuesday. Defensive end Marcell Dareus was ruled ineligible for two games by the NCAA due to his dealings with sports agents.
McElroy connected on 13-of-15 passes for 218 yards, while McCarron finished 9-of-15 for 116 yards. Lacy rushed for 111 yards.
Julio Jones made a one-handed touchdown catch in the second quarter as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 31-3 halftime lead. Alabama, which had 591 yards of total offense, has a big game next Saturday by hosting current No. 19 Penn State.
Harrison Waid's first-quarter field goal provided the lone score for the Spartans (0-1), who are under the guidance of new head coach Mike MacIntyre and are coming off a 2-10 campaign.
Jordan La Secla completed 7-of-14 passes for 85 yards and was picked off once for the Spartans, who were limited to 175 yards of offense.
McElroy led the Tide to a touchdown on the opening eight-play, 71-yard drive. Richardson capped it with a four-yard TD run just 4:22 into the game.
A 32-yard run by Brandon Rutley, combined with a 15-yard face mask penalty, set San Jose State up in Alabama territory. Harrison booted a 31-yard field goal with 7:26 left in the opening quarter.
Less than three minutes later, McElroy found Marquis Maze along the right sideline for a 48-yard TD pass and a 14-3 cushion.
Lacy fumbled the ball away into the end zone later in the first quarter, but the Tide gained a 21-3 lead in the opening minute of the second when Richardson broke off a 39-yard TD run up the middle.
The highlight of the night, though, came with 11:48 to go in the half. Jones took a pattern deep down the field. McCarron, a redshirt freshman, led him a bit too far, but Jones used his left hand to corral the ball as he landed on the goal line.
Waid hit the right upright on a 41-yard field goal try later in the second and Cade Foster capped the half by splitting the uprights from 41 yards out.
Lacy, another redshirt freshman, scored on a 37-yard run early in the third, Foster added a 24-yard field goal later in the period, and Lacy ran up the middle for a 10-yard score in the first minute of the fourth.
Game Notes
Alabama has compiled a 92-21-3 all-time record in season openers, including a nine-game winning streak...San Jose State's last victory over a nationally- ranked opponent came in the 2000 season when the Spartans defeated No. 9 TCU featuring LaDainian Tomlinson, 27-24, in Spartan Stadium. The last time San Jose State defeated a nationally-ranked foe on the road was in 1980, against Baylor...San Jose State is 0-4 all-time against Southeastern Conference opponents.
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Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.