Bryan Harsin calls first-time punt returner, Keionte Scott, 'explosive'
AUBURN- Junior college transfer Keionte Scott has a role during his first year at Auburn that is not very familiar with him.
As backup cornerback, Scott is more well-known as this year’s punt returner.
“So I’ve always returned, but not really punt returns,” Scott said. “I would say I’ve had experience in the past, but this is my first time returning punts at the collegiate level.”
Bryan Harsin doesn’t seem to be concerned with Scott’s potential on special teams, though.
“He can definitely be explosive and he really is,” Harsin said. “He’s one of the guys that can go, I think we all see that… Overall, he can catch it, he can make guys miss, he can do a lot of really good things. We’ve got to help him. It’s big of the other 10 guys on punt return to really help him out there.”
With eight returns on the season, Keionte Scott is averaging 10.63 yards a carry. The Missouri game was the first 11:00 a.m. CT kickoff for Scott in Jordan-Hare Stadium, so this was a different stage for Scott. He talked about the difficulty with the sun during his returns.
“In the first half, we were backed against the sun and I was able to get a good read on those balls,” Scot said. “Then, once the field switched, it was my first time having to deal with the sun… I was trying to get my hand up, but the punter did a really good job of hanging it high. When I was trying to blind it, I still had to pick my head up so the sun was just coming through.”
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After the game, he texted special teams coach Roc Bellantoni and said that he needed to be better prepared to fight against the sun. He wanted to learn what to do in those situations.
“Coach did a good job of explaining that the best thing you can do in that situation is just getting away from the ball and hope for the best,” Scott said. “Hopefully we’ll get a good bounce. Like I said, the punter did a great job of hanging those things up, so you’ve just got to manage.”
This Saturday is a night game against LSU, but the 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff against Georgia on Oct. 8 might put Scott to the test again.
