Alabama Football Swagger: Great JK Scott, Week 9!

A weekly article series examining two players walking with swagger for the Alabama football team. Week 9 had one clear winner – JK Scott.

Now to fully understand what the Alabama Football Swagger is, it means to have reason to walk with a confident, proud air around you. Some people mistake it for vanity, arrogance, or being pompous. This incorrect assumption is not what we mean. The Swagger is about knowing that your deeds showed off your amazing skills to the football-loving public.

It doesn’t get much better than that!

Scott punted eight times for 413 yards, averaging 51.6 yards per attempt, against the LSU Tigers last night in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Only one of those was returned, and it was returned for a mere two yards by LSU star D.J. Chark. His kicks spent so much time in the air that Chark did not dare try to catch and return them, since the Alabama special teams coverage swarmed him in the process.

Scott’s longest punt went a staggering 58 yards.

This event was nothing new for the senior from Denver, Colorado. His six-foot-six, 204-pound frame has been blasting punts for years in a Crimson Tide uniform. In his career, Scott has kicked 221 punts, earning 10 113 yards, averaging 45 yards per punt. In 2014, his longest punt was an amazing 73 yards, making his leg look more like it was connected to Superman, himself. In 2016, he almost did it again, with his longest punt being 66 yards.

This season, Scott has kicked 32 punts for 1 359 yards, averaging 42.5 yards per punt. Scott’s longest in 2017 has been 59 yards.

However, last night, Scott’s strong leg did not just cover yardage and air space. Scott’s powerful punts pinned LSU back in their own end multiple times, forcing their struggling starting quarterback Danny Etling to start each drive with a ton of green field in front of them. Even if Alabama’s offense suffered another 3-and-out, Scott’s kick drilled the Tigers back so far that returns seemed out of the question and gave the Crimson Tide the breathing room that they needed to solve the constant motioning that LSU’s offense performed. The defense made the adjustments, allowing only one touchdown for the entire game.

Next: LSU appeared closer than they were

Final Thoughts:

Both Alabama football’s offense and defense did what they needed to do to win the game; however, without Scott’s punts, the Crimson Tide would have had to worry about being punted out of the College Football Playoff hunt. Scott’s kicks were not just good, they were great in giving the defense time to figure out LSU’s offensive strategy and also gave Alabama’s offense off the hook for not moving the ball out of their own end. Last night was the ‘Night of the Great Punter’, and JK Scott now has all week to strut with swagger because of it.