Penn State's trip to defending national champion Alabama was to serve as a measuring stick for a young Nittany Lions squad at this early point in the season.

The top ranked Crimson Tide used that stick to take the Lions to the woodshed, rolling to a 24-3 victory.That result was of no surprise to many. Going into Tuscaloosa with a true freshman quarterback at the helm isn't a recipe that's going to serve up many victories.That's not to knock Lions' QB Rob Bolden; it's just the reality of the situation for PSU. The Lions needed to play error-free ball to have any shot at the Tide. PSU moved the ball at times, but four turnovers, including three inside the Tide 30, turned that shot from slim to none.Offensively, Alabama just had too many weapons for a revamped PSU defense, even without Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. Trent Richardson battered the Lions on the ground with 144 yards (ending a streak of 17 games in which PSU didn't allow a rusher to hit the century mark), and QB Greg McElroy effectively picked them apart through the air.The pace of the Alabama attack also wore down PSU. The Tide ended with a 409-282 edge in total yardage.As tough as it was to swallow for the Lions, there is a bright side, and that is, if they don't let the loss derail their development, there's no reason they can't enjoy a successful campaign. The experience in a hostile environment should serve them well when they hit the road against top-ten ranked Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Iowa later this season.The Lions dropped from 18th to 22nd in the Associated Press writers' poll (PSU is 20th in the USA Today Coaches poll). They'll get another game with the Tide next season in Happy Valley, and perhaps with a year of seasoning, the younger players will be more competitive vs. 'Bama by then.PSU will get a chance to put some distance between the 'Bama game beginning this afternoon, when it hosts Kent State at Beaver Stadium in a 12 noon kickoff.The rout against the Tide didn't sit well with Joe Paterno at the time, as he held a gruff, abbreviated press conference following the game. After getting a chance to review things more closely, he was able to reevaluate the Lions' performance. He pointed to his squad being tentative and not coming up with the plays it needed to make on both sides of the ball, perhaps because it got caught up in the hoopla of the situation to an extent."I think they have to grow up," said Paterno during his weekly press conference. "Now, where are we? I don't know. I think we have potential. I've felt that from day one, but we've got to start putting some things together and some kids have got to come up and makle some plays, and then I'll have a little bit of a feel. We didn't make many plays (against the Tide)."Bolden, who completed 13 of 29 passes for 144 yards, showed enough for the Lions to keep him behind center."He's our quarterback," said Paterno. "I think for a kid who wasn't even here for spring practice, to go in there and do what he's done, he's done well. He had a couple of interceptions, but two of them he was hit just as he was letting the ball go."You got to adapt to what people can do. We might have asked him to do too much down there in Alabama, I don't know ... I think overall, there's no need for us to start, to think about changing."The Lions' running game continued to struggle, with Evan Royster rushing for just nine carries for 32 yards against the aggressive Tide."We'll, I think the effort is fine," mentioned Paterno about the ground attack, or lack of it. "I don't know whether we've established the kind of running game that Royster would do well in. Royster is kind of a 'pick 'em and spot 'em, give me a crack and I'll go' guy. He's not a guy that's going to run over you."The Lions will get a chance to lick their wounds and work out the kinks today against Mid-American Conference foe Kent State, a team they haven't faced since 2003, when PSU scored a 32-10 victory.Kent is 1-1 heading into today, beating Murray State 41-10 but getting doubled up on by Boston College in a 26-13 loss last week.The ground game could be tested again. The Golden Flashes are ranked number one in the nation in rushing defense so far, permitting just 22 net yards rushing in their first two games."I think Kent State is a good, solid football team," suggested Paterno. "BC is a good team, and BC had troubles with them, a lot of troubles with them. They hustle. They have a terrific kicking game, place kicker and punter."They do a lot of things well. They have a young quarterback, but he's got a lot of poise. Defensively, I think they are good. They've got a linebacker that plays well and a down guy that can play anywhere."Again, with anybody, we're going to have to play better than we have so far in the ball game."Kent State, coached by seven-year mentor Doug Martin, is led by sophomore quarterback Spencer Keith. Wide receiver Tyshon Goode made seven catches against Boston College and running back Dri Archer had six receptions. Eugene Jarvis and Jaquise Terry are the rushing leaders for the Golden Flashes so far. Flanker Sam Kirkland had 12 catches for 150 yards against Murray State.Defensively, linebacker Cobrani Mixon had 15 tackles against BC, and safety Brian Lainhart had 11 stops, including nine that were solo.The kicker is Freddy Cortez, who is 4-for-4 on field goals and 6-for-6 on PATs. Punter Matt Rinehart is averaging 43.6 yards per attempt, including four punts of more than 50 yards.The Lions lead the series with the Flashes 2-0. Today's game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.NITTANY LINES - Paterno is seeking his 500th win since joining the PSU staff in 1950 as an assistant under Rip Engle. He is five wins shy of 400 as a head coach ...PSU is 41-5-1 all-time vs. MAC teams ... next week's Temple game will be a 3:30 p.m. kickoff, it was announced this week ...LB Gerald Hodges is listed as doubtful for today's game, but Paterno said Hodges has a slight break in his lower left fibula and will be out for awhile ... while the Tide pressured Bolden, he was not sacked for the second straight week ... Bolden's top targets were Devon Smith, who made five catches vs. the Tide, and Derek Moye, who had three ... CB D'Anton Lynn had nine tackles vs. 'Bama and safety Nick Sukay had eight stops. Soph DT Jordan Hill had seven tackles ... Paterno said Johnnie Troutman has been playing better than DeOn'tae Pannell in the battle for time at left guard ... Royster needs 10 yards to reach 3,000 for his career and 409 yards to top Curt Warner as PSU's all-time rushing leader. He is currently sixth on the list. The top five are Warner (3,398), Tony Hunt (3,320), Blair Thomas (3,301), Curtis Enis (3,256) and D.J. Dozier (3,227) ... The Big Ten Network is airing a series on the Top 50 Big Ten icons, and it has announced that PSU Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Ham is number 22. Two other Lion gridders to hit the top 50 so far are Curt Warner (42) and LaVar Arrington (46). The series begins Saturday and will move to a Tuesday night slot.