Special teams finally shine for Alabama

TUSCALOOSA | After enduring heavy criticism this season for poor kick coverage, missed field goals and no return yardage, Alabama special teams coach Dave Ungerer had a huge grin following the Crimson Tide’s 38-3 victory over the Florida International Golden Panthers.

When the offense struggled on Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the special teams provided two tension-breaking plays to ensure a homecoming celebration for the sellout crowd.

A blocked punt by Forress Rayford that led to Alabama’s first touchdown and a 65-yard punt return by Javier Arenas in the third quarter eased the fears of an upset by the Golden Panthers.

“I think this is the third week in a row that we’ve blocked a kick,” Ungerer said. “On the return we really worked hard this week on trying to get a little bit more space for Javier, and felt like we were going to get good opportunities.”

The punt return by Arenas occurred in the opening minutes of the third quarter as the Crimson Tide held a narrow 10-3 lead.

With starting quarterback John Parker Wilson limited because of a sprained ankle, Alabama needed something to spark them and Arenas answered with his dazzling play.

Arenas took the short punt from Chris Cook at the Alabama 35-yard line and watched a Crimson wall form in front of him.

The freshman from Tampa, Fla., shifted to his left and followed his blockers. With a quick move to the outside, Arenas raced down the sideline for his first career touchdown.

“With [Arenas] getting that touchdown, and [the offense] not having to go out on the field, that was a big sigh of relief for us,” Alabama fullback Tim Castille said.

Following the extra-point attempt by Jamie Christensen, the Crimson Tide had opened a two-touchdown margin and lead 17-3 with 9:24 remaining in the third quarter.

“First and foremost you have to focus on catching the ball,” Arenas said. “That’s the most important thing. After doing that, I had to see how my blockers were set up. I had to try and help my blockers and then hit the outside of the wall. From there I just ran the ball.

“Everything developed perfectly. With confidence in my blockers I knew everything was going to be all right. I had room to catch the ball, put my chin down and see the field. I put all my trust in my blockers and I knew what I was capable of. It all just came together.”

Arenas had one long punt return in the second quarter negated due to a block-in-the-back penalty, so he felt the circumstances were forming for another chance.

“That motivated me and the whole punt-return team,” Arenas said. “We knew we were going to start rolling from there.”

In the second quarter, Rayford’s blocked punt also provided a much-needed momentum swing for the Crimson Tide.

Florida International held a surprising 3-0 lead when Cook had to punt on fourth-and-9 from the Golden Panther 32-yard line. Rayford rushed through and blocked the kick as the ball wobbled just 2 yards and Alabama took possession at the 34-yard line.

After a 24-yard pass from Wilson to Will Oakley, Wilson followed with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Le’Ron McClain to give the Crimson Tide a lead it would never relinquish.

“They were doing some different things on their punts,” Ungerer said. “We were a little bit unsure because they had some different formations. We have blocked a few kicks the last few weeks, so they knew we were going to come after them. We’ve been pretty successful blocking kicks.”

Reach Michael Southern at michael.southern@tuscaloosanews.com.