The buzz from preseason camp was real. Jaylen Waddle, the freshman receiver from Houston, had the hype and a bit of mystery. He wasn't around for spring practice, so nobody had seen him in an Alabama jersey doing something impressive on A-Day.

The veil was lifted Saturday before he even caught a pass.

It was telling when the slot receiver jogged onto the field after Louisville's first offensive drive as the Crimson Tide's punt returner. To gain that trust Season 1, Game 1 says something about the potential they see in Waddle.

And he delivered. Though wiped out by an illegal block, Waddle broke one for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Alabama's 51-14 beating of Louisville. For the four that counted, Waddle accounted for 80 yards.

This was an area of struggle for Alabama's special teams last year, but Waddle appears to be the answer.

"I thought he'd do as good a job and he had better stats catching the ball, making good decisions and judgments as anyone else on our team," Nick Saban said Wednesday. "I'm a little different, I thought if we put him back there and he struggled we could always go back to Trevon Diggs who is really good at getting the ball fielded, and is a really good returner. Probably not as explosive as Jaylen. So we wanted to give him an opportunity rather than put the other guy in, then he goes in and something goes wrong. So we felt good about him and he obviously did a good job in the game."

Sending a true freshman back to return punts hasn't been as rare for Alabama in recent years. Diggs did it two years ago and Henry Ruggs III got a few opportunities last season, though others held the job on opening night.

The night started fairly slow with fair catches on each of the first two punts that came his way. Then, on the third, he caught it in traffic while back peddling to the 10-yard line. After breaking four or five tackles and bouncing off teammate Jamey Mosley, Waddle had a labor-intensive 12-yard return.

And just before halftime, his 31-yard return up the Alabama sideline set up the Tua Tagovailoa-to-Jerry Jeudy touchdown that closed the half. Cutting back and using his blockers, Waddle found a crease and took off with little hesitation.

The 75-yarder called back for the illegal block showed his speed. No dancing, just one cut and up the field.

"I think the dude runs at least a 4.28, legit," Alabama running back Josh Jacobs said of Waddle's 40-yard time. "He has legit speed. He's going to make a lot of big plays. You'll see a lot of him throughout the year."

It would have been Alabama's first-punt return touchdown since 2016 when Eddie Jackson had two and Xavian Marks another. Cyrus Jones scored on four in 2015.

Waddle also caught three passes for 66 yards including a finger-tip 49-yarder that set up Alabama's third touchdown of the night.

Alabama freshman punt returners

2017: Henry Ruggs III: 8 ret., 5.8 avg.

2016: Trevon Diggs: 13 ret. 10.0 avg.

2012: Cyrus Jones: 8 ret., 7.6 avg.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.