Malzahn wants Tutt more aggressive fielding punts

AUBURN | Christian Tutt has given Auburn a boost as its punt returner this season. But there have been some snafus along the way including a big turnover at Florida.

Tutt allowed a punt to land in front of him, it took an awkward bounce off his body and was recovered by the Gators at AU’s 2-yard line. Not surprisingly, fielding punts in the air has been a big emphasis for Tutt during the bye week.

“I feel good about him. We need to start catching the ball,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “Last week our emphasis was, I don’t care where it’s at, I want the ball caught. He's a smart guy and I want him to be aggressive. I just don’t think we’ve been aggressive enough the last three weeks or whatever. We’ve got to catch the ball in the air. Moving forward, he’ll be desperate to catch that thing in the air.”

The turnover didn’t directly hurt Auburn. The Gators got a unsportsmanlike penalty on the play, backing them up to the 17-yard line. Three snaps later, Derrick Brown took the ball away from UF quarterback Kyle Trask and returned it 42 yards.

Tutt is currently fourth in the SEC averaging 15.4 yards per punt return.

“I do have a lot of confidence in him,” Malzahn said. “I still think he’ll return one for a touchdown before the end of the season. It’s his first opportunity this year to be our starting punt returner. He’s done some really good things, but he had a couple of growing pains. We’ve got to coach him better too.”

Tutt played well as Auburn’s starting nickel against Florida recording a sack, pass breakup and his first-career forced fumble.

No. 11 Auburn returns to action this Saturday at Arkansas. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network.