ULM punter hits Alabama returner with vicious clothesline tackle to save touchdown
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Punters are people, too. Pat McAfee is the embodiment of this fact. And Saturday night, on the biggest stage, he got some help in getting his message across.
Roughly midway through the first quarter of Louisiana-Monroe’s battle against No. 22 Alabama, punter Makenzie Ryan booted the ball to Crimson Tide return man Cole Adams. Adams fielded the punt at his own 41-yard line, then raced through an opening in ULM’s coverage unit.
Moments later, he was racing up the sideline with eyes on the end zone. Ryan, however, wasn’t standing for those aspirations. He quite literally knocked Adams off his feet with one arm at the Warhawk 23-yard line.
Here’s a clip:
Ryan, a sophomore from Kyabram, Australia, is probably going to have the highlight of the night for ULM. The Warhawks trailed the Crimson Tide 42-0 at halftime of Saturday’s battle.
Alabama, coming off their season-opening loss to Florida State — and never forgetting that they lost to the Warhawks 21-14 in Nov. 2007 — out-gained ULM 334-43 in the first half. Crimson Tide quarterbacks Ty Simpson and Austin Mack completed all 20 of their combined pass attempts for 256 yards and four touchdowns over that 30-minute period.
Louisiana-Monroe goes on bye in Week 3 before facing UTEP on Sept. 20. Alabama hosts Wisconsin next Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
