TUSCALOOSA – A trio of former Foley Lions made an immediate impact for the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in a 48-3 win over San Jose State on Saturday.

Wide receiver Julio Jones, offensive lineman D.J. Fluker and safety Robert Lester started for Alabama (1-0), who hosts Penn State on Saturday.

While Jones started as a freshman and sophomore, both Lester (Soph.) and Fluker (Fr.) made their first career starts Saturday.

“At first, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Lester, who had an interception and a sack in the win, said. ‘Coach (Nick) Saban had his game plan, and I was comfortable in what I needed to do. I went out there and knew that anything they were going to do, I already knew my assignment.”

Jones was Alabama’s leading receiver in the win with six catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed once for 13 yards and lined up as a returner on punts and kick offs.

“He’s a great big target and a good guy running with the ball,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said of Jones. “We got a couple of those plays called early and the box count was such that we needed to throw it, and we did. He made a great touchdown catch and a great catch on a seam route. I think those types of catches on vertical routes are something that we really want to get him involved with because of his size and strength. He is difficult to defend in that part of the field and that is something that we really need to improve on.”

Jones said it felt good to be in a position to make plays against someone other than Alabama’s defense in a scrimmage.

“It felt great,” he said. “We’ve been looking forward to being able to hit someone else, and see where we stand.

“I really feel like they have confidence in me. Going through the process in the spring and summer, I feel like they trust me more this year, and that got me some more catches early on.”

Fluker and Lester were two of a total of 15 players on offense, defense, and special teams who made their first starts on Saturday.

“It’s the first time since we’ve been here that I have felt the need to talk about things that you take for granted, like the dress code for a trip,” Saban said. “We had guys who had been here for two or three years that know what’s going on. Now we have a significant number of guys that don’t know what’s going on, haven’t played before and haven’t traveled before, that I find myself saying ‘I need to spend some time explaining this stuff that we explained three years ago.’

“A lot of guys got to play, and a lot of guys did a lot of good things. Just about all of them have things to work on, so they can get better.”

Lester was ready to get back to practice in preparation for Penn State.

“I think we are all starting to understand each other and understand communicating with each other,” he said. “I think we can be a great unit. Now we have to get ready for a good Penn State team.”