Why Alabama Used Two Punt Returners Against Oklahoma

Kalen DeBoer explains the new strategy the Crimson Tide used on special teams last time out.

Ryan Williams returns a punt against Oklahoma | UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Cole Adams has fulfilled Alabama's punt return duties for almost all of this season. He did so again on Saturday against Oklahoma, but he was also joined by Ryan Williams as returner for each of the six times the Sooners lined up to punt.

Coming into Saturday's matchup, Adams had only returned 10 punts through the Crimson Tide's first nine games. He returned one for five yards against Oklahoma, and Williams returned two for 25 yards. However, Williams fumbled his first return, which set up the Sooners' only offensive touchdown of the game.

Even though Alabama used two returners on Saturday, that doesn't mean it will be the strategy moving forward. Head coach Kalen DeBoer explained the decision during Monday's press conference.

"Their punter was a little erratic," DeBoer said of Oklahoma punter Grayson Miller. "He hit long ones, and he’d hit short ones. Some of the short ones, what would happen is they would roll out and end up being longer kicks because you play for the long game. I thought our guys did a good job of the fielding part. Obviously, we had a turnover, which was a big deal. From a schematic standpoint, that was a lot of the reason for that. You saw some of the ones that went longer. Ryan got his hands on those.Obviously, field position plays a little bit of a role in that, but there were some shorter ones, too. I felt like what we were doing from a schematic standpoint, made sense.”

Miller finished with six punts for 280 yards at an average of 46.7 yards per punt against Alabama, which is slightly below his season average of 47.1 yards per punt. His average is good for eighth in the country.

Alabama has not made any game-changing plays in the punt return game so far this season. Adams' longest return of the season is 36 yards against Louisiana Monroe. The last time a Crimson Tide player returned a punt for a touchdown was Caleb Downs against Chattanooga on Nov. 18, 2023.

Williams has the skillset to be a dynamic punt returner but had a critical mistake against the Sooners. During his freshman campaign, Williams returned 12 punts for 120 yards. He has also been banged up throughout his sophomore season, so putting him out there on special teams is a liability for his health on offense.

DeBoer did not specify whether or not Williams will see more opportunities at punt returner moving forward. Alabama will play Eastern Illinois this Saturday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day on Bryant-Denny Stadium.