TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama senior safety Nick Perry called Saturday’s victory against No. 1 Mississippi State one of the best games of his career, and he’s not alone thinking that.
On Monday, Perry was named the Southeastern Conference’s co-Defensive Player of the Week, while freshman JK Scott landed the special-teams honor.
Perry had a career-high 12 tackles, including nine solo, and had the first of Alabama’s three interceptions when he picked off a Dak Prescott pass at the Crimson Tide’s 22-yard line in the second quarter.
“The funny thing is that’s the same type of route that I dropped against Texas A&M, so I was able to make up for that one,” Perry said.
“We kind of knew that when they put those trips into the boundary that they’re going to run all vertical routes and the guy was going to bend in, so I kind of jumped in that play.”
Perry shared the honor with Arkansas linebacker Martrell Spaight, who had 10 tackles (five solo), with a sack, tackle for a loss and a forced fumble during the 17-0 victory over LSU.
It’s the second time Scott won the special-teams award, doing so after the Arkansas game on Oct. 11. He punted seven times for 319 yards (45.6 average), with five inside the 20.
Scott leads the nation with 53.5 percent (23 of 43) of his punts inside the 20, and is second with an average of 46.8 yards per punt. Alabama is also second nationally in net punting (43.28).
“The guy’s done a phenomenal job, especially thinking that he’s just a freshman,” Nick Saban said. “You worry about guys like that being able to stay focused on what they need to do to be consistent, which he has done a really, really good job of.
“He has flipped the field position for us a bunch this year. I think was really big in this game.”
The two were also among the nine named a player of the week by the Alabama coaching staff earlier Monday: Jalston Fowler and T.J. Yeldon on offense, Eddie Jackson, Perry and D.J. Pettway on defense and Landon Collins, Rashaan Evans, Dillon Lee and Scott on special teams.
“Every time I see him boot one I always give him a thumb’s up and he gives me a little salute or whatever,” Perry said. “He thinks he has swag.
He doesn’t?
“Yeah, he does have swag,” Perry answered.
This week’s other SEC award winners:
- Offense: Russell Hansbrough, RB, Missouri
- Freshman: Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
- Offensive lineman: Dan Skipper, OT, Arkansas
- Defensive lineman: Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
