Alabama’s Punter… A Star? Yes, Indeed.

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It's not often that you talk about Alabama's punter. He is often a fifth wheel, or a real loner, that doesn't see the field very often. In fact, this year Alabama's punter Cody Mandell would be second in the nation in punting, but he doesn't have enough kicks per game to qualify. He would have 47.3 compared to the nation's leader in punting, Austin Renkow of Idaho (47.7).

Looking back at the first punt of his career on Sept 4, 2010, Mandell remembers the nerves he had. It was the Fresno State game and (then) sophomore Carson Tinker snapped the ball to Tinker's forehead, but because Tinker was so nervous, he jumped anyway.

Since that time, Mandell has settled into becoming one of Alabama's top players. He now has the accuracy to not only boom punts, but to also place them where he wants.

He had great numbers last week against Mississippi State. On four punts he had a 55 yard punting average. He kept Mississippi State pinned deep in their own territory all night long as three of the four punts resulted in a three and out.

Mandell is certainly a star in our book and don't think for a moment that it goes unnoticed by Saban. In his post-game comments, Alabama head coach Nick Saban heaped up praise in regards to Mandell’s efforts.

“I thought Cody did a fantastic job today, man,” Saban said. “One time he did it against the wind. The wind was a factor in the game today. But Cody had a fabulous day today. I thought he was huge.”

Even as a star, Cody is still working to improve.

Here is a video of Mandell punting.


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