Nick Perry, JK Scott Named SEC Players Of The Week

In their biggest game of the season to date, at least two Alabama players were at their best.

Alabama safety Nick Perry and punter JK Scott were named the Southeastern Conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week Monday for their performances in the Crimson Tide's 25-20 win over then-No. 1 Mississippi State.

Perry, a fifth-year senior, led Alabama with a career-high 12 tackles (nine solo) and one interception -- the first of his career -- in the win over the Bulldogs. After spending his four previous seasons as a backup, Perry, who split the weekly honor with Arkansas linebacker Martrell Spaight, has started nine of 10 games this season (did not start against Florida due to a targeting flag suspension) and is fourth on the team in tackles with 56.

"Nick has really improved. I think what’s improved with Nick the most is his confidence, and I think that is benefiting his performance," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "He’s got a lot of experience around here, is a very bright guy, is a very smart guy. His improvement has certainly helped dramatically in how we’ve been able to improve some of the secondary. He’s done a really nice job for us and did a good job in this last game."

Scott, a true freshman, averaged 45.6 yards per punt on seven attempts with five landing inside the 20-yard line against Mississippi State. He picked up the same SEC weekly honor earlier this season after playing Arkansas on Oct. 11.

"The guy has done a phenomenal job, especially thinking that he’s just a freshman," 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 of.

"He has flipped the field position for us a bunch this year. I think he was really big in this (last) game."

Last week, Scott was one of 10 semifinalists named for the Ray Guy Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding punter in college football. Scott's 46.8 yards per punt average this season is second-best in the nation.