Clemson partially blocked a punt in last season’s national championship clash with Alabama. The first-quarter block didn’t yield any points, but the Crimson Tide doesn’t want it to happen again.
“On that play our protection, we kind of got confused, I guess, and made a mistake,” UA punter JK Scott said. “A guy came through just completely free, but you know what, that’s not all their fault because the get-off time was a little slow, too.
“If I would have gotten the ball off a little bit faster, we probably could have gotten it off (without it being blocked).”
Joe Pannunzio, Alabama’s special teams coordinator, has made getting punts off quicker an emphasis.
“This year we’ve been really focusing on our protection,” Scott said. “Coach Panunzio has been one me since day one about getting the get-off time quicker. As long as we can get the ball off quick enough, it shouldn’t ever be a problem.”

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