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U’s Triplett is special player on special teams

The U's Nate Triplett has gone from not playing to a standout on the coverage and return teams.

By KENT YOUNGBLOOD, Star Tribune

Last update: October 23, 2008 - 7:54 AM

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Part of the joy for Nate Triplett is the relative simplicity of the task.

Triplett is a backup linebacker for the Gophers. More importantly, he is also the team's best special teams player. He plays on punt and kickoff returns, and on punt and kickoff coverage. All four are fun, but it's the coverage teams he covets. Why? Consider his job description:

"Go get him," Triplett said smiling. "That's basically it."

Go get him. There are a lot of reasons why the Gophers have made such dramatic improvement from last season. The efficient offense isn't giving up the ball. The resilient defense is taking it away.

Another reason is the Gophers' special teams have been very good. The 6-2 Triplett is a very fast, 236-pound reason why.

Heading into this week's games, the Gophers rank first in the Big Ten in kickoff coverage, second in kickoff returns, sixth in punting and fifth in punt returns.

Triplett plays on all four units.

It's a job he asked for. It was August of 2007, near the end of two-a-day practices. Triplett, who played at Delano High School, wasn't getting a lot of reps at linebacker and knew he wasn't going to get a lot of playing time. So one day he walked into the office of John Butler, who coaches linebackers and special teams.

"He was a little disappointed in his performance and how he was doing," said Butler, sitting in his office Tuesday. "He sat down in that chair and said, 'Coach, I just want to let you know, this is your first year here. Whatever you want, whatever you need, if it means covering kicks, busting wedges, I want to help. I want to play. I put him on the kicking team and the rest is history."

Triplett won the Bobby Bell Award as the team's special teams player of the season last year, and a repeat is a lock.

Triplett has 13 tackles on special teams, 11 solo. Four of those 11 have come on kickoff coverage inside the 20-yard line. Gophers opponents usually have had long fields to work with after kickoffs. On average, those drives start near the 23-yard line.

On return units, he has four knockout blocks. That's Butler's term for a block that completely takes an opponent out of the play.

"Coach talks about a kamikaze fighter pilot attitude," punter Justin Kucek said. "That's what Nate has. He runs downfield and gives up his body for the team. He just makes plays, consistently, every week. On the sidelines we always try to pick who will make the tackle on a kickoff, and he's the guy we usually pick. We love watching him."

Kicker Joel Monroe said he has watched film where Triplett has blocked a player all the way to the sideline.

Opponents have been watching him more, too. Illinois used two guys to slow him down on kickoff coverage. Triplett lines up on the inside so he can read the play and go make the tackle on either side of the field. Illinois had a front-line guy try to block him, then brought another blocker from the outside across the field trying to knock him out of the play.

Didn't work. Triplett made three tackles. On the second-half kickoff, he sprinted down and tackled A.J. Jenkins on the 14. That tackle, coupled with an illegal block penalty, put the ball at the Illinois 7. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Garrett Brown forced a Daniel Dufrene fumble that was recovered by Eric Small. Moments later the Gophers scored to take a 14-3 lead.

Triplett could have been credited with another big play. At the end of the first half he nailed Arrelious Benn on a punt return, causing a fumble Jack Simmons recovered. It was waived off because officials said Benn had signaled for a fair catch.

So what's the key to Triplett's success?

Butler says it's simple physics: Triplett is big and fast. Every week the entire team watches the special teams play from the previous game. The thing Butler looks for is which defender on kickoff coverage crosses the 50-yard line first. It's always Triplett.

"Nobody ever gets there faster," Butler said. "He's game-speed fast."

Said Triplett: "It takes me a while to get to top speed. But once I'm there, I'm hard to stop."

He's an example of a player who found a way to play, then made the most of it.

"I'm a contributor," he said.

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