Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so the old saying goes, but if there is anything to be gleaned from the first weekend of the 2010 college football season, it's that not all routs are created equal.

Cases in point: Alabama's 48-3 dismantling of San Jose State vis a vis Penn State's late-developing, 44-14 victory over Youngstown State.

To hear Alabama coach Nick Saban tell it, the defending national champion Crimson Tide's systematic destruction of the visiting Spartans was, in part, marred by unsightly warts, but the Nittany Lions' thumping of the Football Bowl Subdivision Penguins was a relative thing of beauty.

"When you play Joe Paterno-coached teams, which we've had some experience doing, they do a great job of executing," Saban, looking ahead to Saturday night's big intersectional hosting of Penn State in Tuscaloosa, said Monday during his weekly session with the media. "They don't give you much. They win on effort, toughness, execution and discipline.

"I don't think this team is any different. They were very impressive last week in beating Youngstown State. They have established systems on offense, defense and special teams that their players really understand. They won 11 games last year, got a lot of good players back, beat LSU in a bowl game. They don't make foolish mistakes. They don't take foolish penalties.

"They are a very sound, fundamental team in their approach. It's not about fooling you all the time. It's about, 'This is what we do. What are you going to do to stop it?'"

It almost sounds as if Saban isn't even sure his top-ranked team deserves to be favored over Penn State. And wait until you hear his evaluation of all the things the Tide did wrong against San Jose State.

"Now the focus needs to be on improving," Saban said. "Making progress. We had some guys that played pretty well and some guys that need to play better. We made too many mental mistakes in some cases. We need to do a better job of consistent execution."

Of Penn State's kid quarterback, Rob Bolden, Saban gushed praise.

"You can say they have a freshman quarterback playing, but he sure didn't play like a freshman last week," he said of Bolden, who completed 20 of 29 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns, with an interception, and was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week. "He played extremely well, was very poised and is a good passer, very athletic and accurate."

Upon closer examination, however, there is ample reason to believe it is Penn State that has much more work to do if it is to be anything more than another sacrificial offering when the Nits step onto the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Where Alabama outgained San Jose State, 591 total yards to 175, Penn State -- which trailed 7-6 with a minute, 20 seconds remaining in the first half -- managed only 371 yards to 264 for the Penguins while allowing YSU's freshman quarterback Kurt Hess to complete 21 of 25 passes. Dominique Barnes hauled in 12 of those receptions, including an 80-yard scoring strike on an inside screen.

Those numbers don't figure to bode well against Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, who was almost perfect in limited action against San Jose State, going 13-for-15 for 218 yards and a touchdown.

"One of those balls was bobbled out of bounds and the other was a poor read or he'd have been 15-for-15," Saban said of McElroy.

The bad news for the Tide is that standout defensive end Marcell Dareus, ruled ineligible for the first two games by the NCAA for accepting improper benefits from an agent, will not play Saturday. Saban said Monday that the Tide will not appeal the suspension.

That's a plus for the Nits; the 6-4, 306-pound junior was the Most Valuable Player in Alabama's BCS Championship-winning game against Texas, knocking Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy out of the contest with a big first-quarter hit, and returning an interception 29 yards for a touchdown.

The bad news for Penn State is a bit more widespread. Sensational junior wide receiver Julio Jones, who'll be in the NFL before too long, made an acrobatic, one-handed touchdown reception from Alabama backup quarterback A.J. McCarron, and poses many more problems than did Barnes. And when the Tide rolled on the ground, backup tailback Trent Richardson ran 10 times for 66 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, and third-stringer Eddie Lacy had 13 carries for 111 and two more TDs.

Oh, yeah, and starter Mark Ingram, the returning Heisman Trophy winner who ran for 1,658 yards in 2009, might be cleared to play after undergoing minor arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last week and sitting out the San Jose State contest.

"What do I have to see?" Saban said when asked if Ingram might see action against Penn State. "I have to see Mark Ingram be Mark Ingram."

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