Freshman Will Reichard makes his first collegiate field goal — T.G. Paschal/Bama Central

Alabama special teams addresses struggles

Special teams have been a topic of conversation, but aim to improve as the season progresses

Author:
Joey Blackwell
Updated:
Oct 3, 2019 12:57 PM EDT
Original:
Oct 3, 2019

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Don’t act like you didn’t see this coming.

Heading into its first bye week of the season, the Alabama special teams unit has been, for lack of a better term, underperforming.

Chiefly among the special teams’ struggles are punts and field goals. It's something any Alabama fan worth his/her salt knows has consistently plagued the Crimson Tide for years — minus J.K. Scott.

In the punting game, sophomore punter Skyler DeLong is averaging only 33.88 yards per attempt, with eight punts in five games. Consequently, the Crimson Tide ranks last in the Southeastern Conference.

“It’s not been what we’d like for it to be,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said Wednesday.

The lack of attempts definitely qualifies as a good problem to have, and can be directly attributed to Alabama’s dynamic offense. Even when it does kick it's often from midfield after gaining ground out of opposing territory.

Nevertheless, it's still something that needs to improve before Alabama faces tougher competition.

Punt returns are another area Saban is looking for improvement.

After Alabama’s 59-31 win over Ole Miss on Saturday, Saban expressed his frustration with the unit, especially with the muffed punt by sophomore wide receiver Jaylen Waddle that set up the Rebels' first touchdown.

“You have to get possession of the ball when they’re punting the ball to us,” Saban said after the game. “I mean that’s the number one thing. I mean you have to get possession of the ball. That’s a big field position change when you muff a punt, and that’s something that we’ll continue to work on.”

On the season, Crimson Tide punt returners have returned the ball nine times, with 159 yards with no touchdowns.

As for field-goal kicking, the combined efforts of redshirt-sophomore Joseph Bulovas and freshman Will Reichard have resulted in four misses.

With Reichard suffering a pulled hip flexor on a kickoff against Southern Miss, Bulovas started against Ole Miss. He was 1-for-2.

Saban said he's hopeful Reichard can return against Texas A&M on Oct. 12.

“We’re kind of holding him out this week until Monday,” the coach said. “We think he should be ready for next game, but you know these things are all day-to-day, and nobody can predict exactly how something’s going to heal up so, you know, we’ll find out on Monday.”

For the season, Reichard is 4-7 in field goals, with his longest being 49 yards. He is also 21-22 in extra points.

With experience comes confidence, though, and Reichard should gain more as the season progresses and the Crimson Tide begins the meat of its schedule.