Special Teams Secure Close Win for Crimson Tide
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AUSTIN, Texas. — Nick Saban has been coaching for nearly five decades and coached thousands of players at this point. He's won six national championships and coached four Heisman winners, so it's rare for a player to show the Alabama head coach something he's never seen before.
That's where Will Reichard comes in, the hero of Alabama's 20-19 win over Texas Saturday. Reichard was 2-for-2 in the game with a 52-yard field goal on the opening drive and the game winner with 10 seconds left in the game.
"Will has been a consistent performer for us for several years now," Saban said in the postgame. "And I’ve never been around a guy that had a perfect season. He actually had a perfect season— never missed an extra point, never missed a field goal. Had a game winner today. I don’t know if that’s his first, but I had total confidence in him.”
For Reichard, there were no nerves. Even after getting iced by a Texas timeout, he was relishing the chance to win the game for his team.
"Really, I just wanted to get an opportunity," Reichard said. "I just wanted our offense to be able to go down and put me in a position. And these guys fought all game long, and I just wanted to do my part.”
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young set up the drive with under two minutes left for Reichard to be able to launch the winning kick. Young had no hesitation handing over the keys to Reichard to secure the win.
"To have a kicker like Will gives us so much confidence," Young said. "When they were trotting out the field goal team, I had all the confidence in the world. I already knew he was gonna hit it. When you have that feeling especially from that range and deeper, it's automatic."
Reichard has been nearly automatic in his Crimson Tide career. Like Saban mentioned, Reichard was perfect in 2020, going 14-14 on field goals and 84-84 on extra points. So far, he's also perfect in his senior season. Overall, Reichard has hit 83% of field goals and 99% of his extra points as Alabama's kicker.
Special teams played a key role in the close game between the Crimsson Tide and Longhorns. With the Alabama offense struggling for the entire second quarter, the Longhorns had the opportunity to take a lead into halftime with a 20-yard chip shot field goal right before the half. Instead, Will Anderson Jr. got a piece of it, and it sailed wide left. The score stayed at 10-10 at the half.
Despite the offensive inconsistencies, Alabama was able to control field position for most of the first half with James Burnip downing three punts inside the 20-yard line. Texas punter Daniel Trejo shanked a few punts in the first half but found his groove in the second. Trejo flipped field position in the Longhorns favor, including pinning the Crimson Tide inside its own one-yard line, which nearly caused a safety of the Alabama quarterback.
"People don’t talk about that, but that’s how special teams affect the game," Saban said. "It affects field position. And every 100 yards of field position in the game, means six points most of the time. So it's critical. And that’s why your specialists have to execute, and your teams have to do a great job of controlling vertical field position by the way they play. And I thought our [special] teams did a pretty good job today, but we’ve just got to be more consistent with the specialists.”
It was Alabama's first game-winning field goal in the final minutes of the fourth quarter since Jamie Christensen's 45-yard field goal as time expired in the 2006 Cotton Bowl. It may not have been the game Alabama was expecting as 20-point favorite, but it made it all the more sweet for Reichard.
"I think anytime you win, it’s going to be really sweet," he said. "Especially when… we didn’t want it to be close, but when you win a close game like that, it’s always a little sweet."
Read more on BamaCentral
Alabama Survives Texas with Fourth Quarter Comeback
No Excuses: Alabama Probably Should Have Lost at Texas
Despite Loss, Steve Sarkisian Thinks Success Coming Soon for Longhorns
