re: Bama Football Tidings

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- True freshman Will Reichard handled every aspect of Alabama’s kicking game in its season opener against Duke last weekend, placekicking, kicking off and punting.

But the Crimson Tide could elect to give the Hoover, Ala., native a few snaps off Saturday when the nation’s No. 2-ranked team hosts the New Mexico State Aggies at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“The kid’s got a lot of talent, and we’ve got him doing a lot of things,” said head coach Saban on his weekly call-in radio show Thursday night. “This week, we might take some of the punting load off of him and maybe let Skyler (DeLong) do it, who did it some last year, see how he responds to that.”

Reichard punted the football twice in his Alabama debut last Saturday and averaged 40.0 yards per punt, which was more than four yards better than the Tide’s team average a year ago (35.76). His first punt traveled 39 yards, but his second was 41 yards with improved hangtime.

Last season, Skyler DeLong averaged 34.44 yards per punt in seven games as a true freshman.

On top of punting, Reichard saw the field for two field-goal attempts, six extra points and seven kickoffs against the Blue Devils. He was 6-of-6 on PATs and all seven of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks, but he missed field goals from 49 and 48 yards out, respectively, in the opener.

“Will did great,” Saban said after the game. “He kicked a lot of touchbacks, which shows his leg strength. I think he hit both field goals that he hit, he really hit well. It’s just a little unlucky that both of them hit the pole, but hopefully, he’ll be able to gain confidence and improve on that in the future.”

Saban and his teammates are confident in Reichard, but the goal is to not overwork the freshman.

“It’s not hard to do all three,” Saban said Thursday evening. “It’s hard to manage yourself through the season without getting run down doing all three. So, it’s going to be a little bit of a management issue for us to not have him lose his leg somewhere late in the season.”

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