Alabama Football: JK Scott Is the Surprising X-Factor for Fearsome Tide Defense

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When Alabama punter JK Scott jogs off the field after booming another one of his high, arcing punts that pins an opponent deep in their own end, safety Nick Perry gives him a thumbs up. Scott returns the gesture with a salute.

“He thinks he has swag,” Perry says, laughing.

Whatever swag Scott does have is much deserved.

The freshman punter from Denver, who was listed by most recruiting services as a kicker, has come in and immediately become one of Alabama’s most dominant players at his position.

He’s second in the country in punting average (46.84 yards) and tied for first in net punting (43.3 yards). As a true freshman, Scott is a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award.

From his first career punt in the Georgia Dome that traveled 62 yards to his 46-yarder the flipped the field in the fourth quarter against Mississippi State, Scott has almost become the Alabama defense’s secret weapon this season.

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“He’s great. He’s great,” defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson said. “He’s a great punter. He does his job well and he counts on us to do our job well.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban can only gush when talking about his punter.

Where he preaches the process and constant improvement with most players, he says that with specialists like Scott, that isn’t the case.

“You know one of the biggest challenges I think for specialists, and we’ve gone through this with several of our guys, sometimes good enough is good enough. You don’t have to keep trying to get better. When you’re kicking every one of them 50 and 55 yards with a 5.0 [second] hangtime, that’s good enough. You don’t really have to try to keep going. And he’s one of those guys who always really wants to try to do a little better and keep going. He’s done a great job for us and certainly changed field position in critical times in several games this year.” 

Stop and think about that for a second. Saban, the ultimate perfectionist, telling a freshman they’re good enough.

The Legend of JK Scott continues to grow each week. It took a major step in Alabama’s win over No. 1 Mississippi State.

There’s an argument to be made that Scott was responsible for the biggest play of the game.

Alabama decided to go for it on 4th-and-4 at the MSU 33-yard line in the first quarter. Freshman left tackle Cam Robinson jumped offside, though, and Saban decided to punt.

Buthch Dill/Associated Press

Scott sent one 34 yards to the Bulldogs’ 4-yard line. After an incomplete pass, the defense tackled running back Josh Robinson in the end zone for a safety, setting the tone for a dominant defensive performance.

“The MVP of the game is probably Alabama’s punter,” Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said after the game in quotes emailed by Alabama. “When you’re playing quality teams, it’s hard to just think you’re just going to drive the ball at will on an excellent defense like Alabama. That ended up being a major factor.”

Scott’s defensive teammates agreed.

"He really deserves all the credit for that (safety) and we're glad to have him," defensive end Jonathan Allen told Brad Zimanek of the Montgomery Advertiser. "JK is a great punter. We really feed off him. After he punts, we really go out there excited. You cannot give him enough credit for the success of the defense in this game.

"He's really a part of the defense … a 12th man on the defense."

Scott flipping the field for the Alabama defense has been a major part of that unit's success this season, and it's given a lanky kid from Denver a little big of "swag" on a national title-contending team.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats come from cfbstats and ESPN. All recruiting information from 247Sports.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.