September 11, 2010 Week 2 · Regular Season Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 24–3, at home over Penn State.

Home · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 24

Away · Challenger

Penn StateAP No. 18 3

AP poll, week 2: Penn State No. 18 at Alabama No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama came in 280 days into reign #271, which began with a win over Florida, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Alabama went on to defend it 3 more times before South Carolina took it on October 9, 2010, 308 days after the reign began.

For Penn State this was its 21st shot at the belt; it had held the belt 4 times before.

It was the 3rd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, the series stood 1–1; all-time Alabama leads 2–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama's defense and balanced offense proved too much for Penn State in this belt defense on September 11, 2010. The Crimson Tide struck early when Greg McElroy connected with Kevin Norwood for a 36-yard touchdown in the first quarter, then added another McElroy-to-Preston Dial touchdown pass in the second quarter to build a commanding lead. Penn State's offense struggled mightily, turning the ball over four times including two interceptions by McElroy's passes to Will Lowery and Robert Lester, while Alabama's defense consistently shut down the Nittany Lions' drives. Despite a late field goal by Penn State's Collin Wagner, Alabama sealed the dominant victory 24-3 when Trent Richardson punched in a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, allowing the Crimson Tide to retain the belt.

McElroy-to-Norwood 36-yard TD pass in Q1 -- Alabama establishes early momentum and puts Penn State on their heels
Two Penn State interceptions (Lowery and Lester) -- turnovers prove devastating for Penn State's offensive rhythm and field position
McElroy-to-Preston Dial TD pass in Q2 -- Alabama extends lead to 14-0 and essentially puts game out of reach
Richardson one-yard TD run in Q4 -- Alabama adds insurance touchdown to secure belt defense

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

AlabamaPenn State

Total yards409283

Rushing yards180127

Passing yards239156

First downs1917

3rd down conv.3/105/14

Turnovers14

Penalties–yards5–331–5

Time of possession20:0718:33

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 8:35	Alabama	+36 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Kevin Norwood for 36 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 8:35	Alabama	+0 yd	Jeremy Shelley extra point GOOD.
Q1 11:05	Alabama	+21 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Julio Jones for 21 yards to the PnSt 47 for a 1ST down.
Q1 8:00	Alabama	+20 yd	Cade Foster kickoff for 66 yards returned by Stephfon Green for 20 yards to the PnSt 24.
Q1 4:54	Penn State	+31 yd	Robert Bolden pass complete to Derek Moye for 31 yards to the Alab 22 for a 1ST down.
Q1 3:59	Penn State	+0 yd	Robert Bolden pass intercepted by Will Lowery at the Alab 3, returned for no gain to the Alab 3.
Q2 14:55	Alabama	+14 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Preston Dial for 14 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 3:00	Alabama	+33 yd	Trent Richardson rush for 33 yards to the PnSt 37 for a 1ST down.
Q2 14:55	Alabama	+0 yd	Jeremy Shelley extra point GOOD.
Q2 14:55	Alabama	+23 yd	Cade Foster kickoff for 70 yards returned by Chaz Powell for 23 yards to the PnSt 23.
Q2 12:33	Penn State	+20 yd	Robert Bolden pass complete to Derek Moye for 20 yards to the Alab 44 for a 1ST down.
Q2 12:20	Penn State	+24 yd	Shawney Kersey rush for 24 yards to the Alab 20 for a 1ST down.
Q2 6:10	Alabama	+29 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Trent Richardson for 29 yards to the PnSt 9 for a 1ST down.
Q2 3:54	Alabama	+31 yd	Jeremy Shelley 31 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 3:54	Alabama	+27 yd	Cade Foster kickoff for 66 yards returned by Stephfon Green for 27 yards to the PnSt 31.
Q2 1:33	Alabama	+31 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Darius Hanks for 31 yards to the PnSt 28 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:33	Alabama	+44 yd	Cade Foster 44 yard field goal MISSED.
Q3 15:00	Alabama	+30 yd	Cade Foster kickoff for 70 yards returned by Stephfon Green for 30 yards to the PnSt 30.
Q3 8:10	Penn State	+0 yd	Robert Bolden pass intercepted by Robert Lester at the Alab 13, returned for no gain to the Alab 13.
Q3 11:35	Penn State	+20 yd	Robert Bolden pass complete to Justin Brown for 20 yards to the Alab 28 for a 1ST down.
Q4 14:10	Alabama	+1 yd	Trent Richardson rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 14:10	Alabama	+0 yd	Jeremy Shelley extra point GOOD.
Q4 14:03	Alabama	+23 yd	Cade Foster kickoff for 64 yards returned by Stephfon Green for 23 yards to the PnSt 29.
Q3 0:01	Alabama	+20 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Marquis Maze for 20 yards to the PnSt 6 for a 1ST down.
Q4 9:47	Penn State	+36 yd	Collin Wagner 36 yard field goal GOOD.
Q4 3:47	Penn State	+2 yd	Justin Brown pass intercepted by Mark Barron at the Alab 23, returned for 2 yards to the Alab 25.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Alabama

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Greg McElroy	16/24	229	9.5	2	0	72.9

Penn State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	INT	QBR
Rob Bolden	13/29	144	5.0	2	21.6
Kevin Newsome	1/1	12	12.0	0	88.7
Justin Brown	0/1	0	0.0	1	0.0

Rushing

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Trent Richardson	22	144	6.5	1	33
Eddie Lacy	6	21	3.5	0	7
Greg McElroy	5	8	1.6	0	10
Marquis Maze	1	7	7.0	0	7

Penn State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Evan Royster	9	32	3.6	11
Silas Redd	5	26	5.2	11
Shawney Kersey	1	24	24.0	24
Stephfon Green	5	13	2.6	4
Rob Bolden	6	12	2.0	5
Kevin Newsome	2	9	4.5	5
Devon Smith	2	8	4.0	7
Michael Zordich	1	3	3.0	3

Receiving

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Darius Hanks	3	52	17.3	0	31
Julio Jones	4	49	12.3	0	21
Trent Richardson	4	46	11.5	0	29
Kevin Norwood	1	36	36.0	1	36
Marquis Maze	2	28	14.0	0	20
Preston Dial	2	18	9.0	1	14

Penn State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Derek Moye	3	69	23.0	31
Devon Smith	5	47	9.4	17
Justin Brown	1	20	20.0	20
Brett Brackett	1	17	17.0	17
Chaz Powell	2	9	4.5	7
Evan Royster	2	-6	-3.0	0

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Alabama

Player	INT	YDS
Mark Barron	1	2
Robert Lester	1	0
Will Lowery	1	0

Penn State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Trent Richardson	1	17	17.0	17	0

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Stephfon Green	4	100	25.0	30	0
Chaz Powell	1	23	23.0	23	0

Kicking

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jeremy Shelley	1/1	100.0	31	3/3	6
Cade Foster	0/1	0.0	0	0/0	0

Penn State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Collin Wagner	1/1	100.0	36	0/0	3

Punt Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Julio Jones	2	0	0.0	0	0

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Devon Smith	1	0	0.0	0	0
Justin Brown	2	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Cody Mandell	3	111	37.0	0	0	44

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Anthony Fera	4	145	36.3	0	0	46

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 302540333) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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