TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Forget the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Louisiana-Monore was in trouble before Bryce Young stepped onto the field.

Sure, Young threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns while the Alabama offense piled up a season-high 273 yards and three more scores on the ground during its 63-7 victory Saturday. However, the scariest moments for ULM came right before they gave the ball to the Crimson Tide.

Alabama set a single-game school record with 262 punt return yards, shattering its previous mark of 204 yards set against LSU during the 1947 season.

The Crimson Tide forced ULM into 12 punts on the afternoon. More than half of them resulted in gains of 20 or more yards, including a 68-yard touchdown from Brian Branch and a blocked punt from Ja’Corey Brooks at ULM 24-yard line which Malachi Moore scooped and scored from the 3-yard line.

Heading into the game, Alabama had yet to record a return of 20 or more yards in either of its previous two games this season.

"I challenged the players this week on that,” Nick Saban said following the game. “... We didn't do anything that really hurt us. But we weren't making special teams an advantage to us.”

That certainly changed Saturday as Alabama averaged a whopping 32.75 yards on eight returns.

While Branch had the longest return of the day, Kool-Aid McKinstry served as Alabama’s most consistent threat on special teams. The sophomore cornerback averaged 27.2 yard on five attempts and broke the 20-yard mark on four occasions, ripping off returns of 44, 42, 29 and 20 yards respectively.

“The blockers I had today, they did their job,” McKinstry said, “and I can’t do nothing but thank them the best for creating lanes for me to be able to take.”

The way ULM set up also had a bit to do with it. Following the game, Saban explained that the Warhawks’ decision to use a three-man shield to protect its punter left them with fewer players in coverage. That allowed the Crimson Tide to pick up its blocks upfield, leaving playmakers like McKinstry and Branch plenty of room to work their magic.

“The key to that is how do the people up front — not the returner — how do they clamp people, how do they stab and lag people and how do they sit and fit them down the field,” Saban said. “And there were a lot of good blocks on a lot of these blocks today.”

Both McKinstry and Branch are starting defensive backs. Alabama also uses starting running back Jahmyr Gibbs as a kick return — a move that paid off Saturday as he broke a 57-yard return on a kickoff.

Saban has never been shy about utilizing his star players in special teams roles, stating that it is an equally important part of the game as offense or defense. That belief is fully accepted by his players who gladly embrace any opportunity to impact the game.

“Special teams bring a lot to the game,” McKinstry said. “I mean we don’t look at special teams no different than offense or defense. We also understand that the energy that comes from special teams feeds into offense and defense.”

In fact, special teams success might create more excitement than big plays on offense or defense. Following Branch’s touchdown return in the fourth quarter, the Alabama bench swarmed the cornerback on the sidelines, celebrating as if he had just provided a game-winning play instead of an added highlight in the midst of a blowout.

“It was a great feeling, man” running back Roydell Williams said. “We’ve got to bring it every play on special teams. That’s what starts it. From special teams to punt, punt return, kickoff, kickoff return we’ve got to be physical in all aspects of special teams. That’s what leads to offense and defense, playing physical and fast. Overall, that's why we came out with the win.”

Perhaps the scariest part of Alabama’s special teams success Saturday is the fact its preferred returner is still sidelined with an injury. Following the game, Saban maintained that Jojo Earle is still the team’s punt returner despite suffering a Jones fracture in his foot during preseason camp.

According to Saban, the sophomore receiver could return as early as two weeks, giving Alabama an additional special teams weapon in time for Alabama’s game at Arkansas on Oct. 1. Until then, McKinstry and company are more than happy picking up the slack.

“I enjoy what I do, and I do what I can do for the team, " McKinstry said when asked about keeping his return duties moving forward. "Everything else is on Coach.”