Alabama football: Mark Ingram remains doubtful for Tide; Dareus definitely out for Penn State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There was never a question of needing Mark Ingram or Marcell Dareus against San Jose State.

This Saturday’s visit from 19th-ranked Penn State, though, brings an understandably heightened sense of urgency and more of a need for two of the Crimson Tide’s top talents.

But Dareus is assured he’ll be back on the sideline while Ingram faces considerable doubts for the 7 p.m. Saturday showdown on ESPN.

In Dareus’ case, coach Nick Saban backed off previous statements made on his Thursday radio show in which he said the school would appeal his two-game suspension for improper dealings with an agent.

“I never said it was too much,” Saban said. “I just said that we will appeal it, if we think there’s precedent to appeal it. We researched it and didn’t feel there was any precedent to appeal it. I wish it was less, but when you look at the facts you have to say, ‘Is there any other case that would say that he got an unfair punishment?’ Even though I may think that I wish it was less as the coach, for him as the player and for our team, that doesn’t mean that when you look at the case precedent of what’s been done in the past that he got treated unfairly.”

Damion Square replaced Dareus and recorded two solo tackles against San Jose State.

There was still some question as to whether Ingram could suit up against the Nittany Lions a week after suffering a minor knee injury that required surgery last Tuesday.

While Saban at first said he had no idea if the Heisman Trophy winner would be ready for Saturday, he later said it would be a difficult turn around.

“We just need to see him be able to be himself, be 100 percent, be able to practice enough to be confident and ready, but I’m not anticipating that’s going to happen,” Saban said. “I’m anticipating Mark making progress every day and that we’re going to evaluate his progress on a daily basis.

“Whenever he’s ready to play, and he’s practiced enough and he’s confident and he’s fully recovered and the doctors clear him to play because he won’t have any future issues, then we’ll make a decision to play him.”

Ingram was not on the practice field during Monday’s brief media viewing period.

Saban said he would be doing “dry-land” rehab Monday and would be evaluated 12-24 hours afterward to gauge progress. If results are favorable, he’ll continue the recovery process.

“It depends on how he reacts to every day, and nobody really knows how that’s going to be,” Saban said. “It could probably be a little bit of a stretch for everything to go perfectly, but that’s where it is. That’s all anybody knows, so that’s all anybody can say, so I’m not making any predictions or hypothetical situations or whatever. That’s just the way it is.”

In terms of game planning, it will be somewhat easier for the Alabama defense this week. The Dareus ruling didn’t come until the Thursday before the game and he was practicing with the first group until then. Now that he’s certainly out for Penn State, there can be more cohesion in the preparation.

The Tide offense had most of last week to prepare for life without Ingram. It used the next three backs on the depth chart to roll up 257 rushing yards — led by Eddie Lacy’s 111.