Blue White Illustrated

As a professional, Triplett set the league's single-game record with 294 yards on four kickoff returns, including a 97-yard touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 29, 1950. The ef- fort was an NFL record for 44 seasons until it was broken in 1994 and still ranks as the third-best single-game performance in league history. His 73.5- yard kickoff return average still stands as the NFL single-game record. Two weeks after his record-setting perform- ance, Triplett was drafted into the Army and fought for the 594th Field Artillery Battalion for two years in the Korean War. Triplett is survived by his children, Nancy, Wallace, Alison and David. He was preceded in death by his wife, Leonore. ■ DeAndre Thompkins had been hav- ing an unexpectedly quiet season. The senior wide receiver had caught 55 passes the previous two years, but he'd caught only nine in the first seven games of Penn State's 2018 campaign. Then, with fellow wideout Juwan Johnson limited by an injury and the Nittany Lions needing someone to step forward at wide receiver, Thomp- kins delivered. On a cold, rainy late- October afternoon at Beaver Stadium, he caught five passes for 59 yards, as Penn State outlasted Iowa, 30-24. And not only did he come through for the Lions in the passing game, he also had a key block on a 51-yard touchdown run by Trace McSorley in the third quarter. So, what was the differ- ence between that game and the seven that had preceded it? Other than the results, not much. "I approached it just like I approach every other game," Thomp- kins explained. "I was well-prepared for it. The ball just seemed to find me a little bit more this game than others, and I'm not complaining about that. I just tried to make the best of my abili- ties. I got more opportunities in this game than other games, and hopefully we can continue to improve upon that." Penn State had been looking for im- provement in the passing game after two up-and-down months to start the season. Although they managed to hold off Iowa, the Nittany Lions threw for only 194 yards and came out of the game ranked seventh in the Big Ten in passing offense. That rank- ing continued to fall after the Lions' next game, a 49- 7 thrashing at Michigan in which they managed only 118 passing yards. Heading into its trip to Rutgers on Nov. 17, Penn State was F O O T B A L L Nittany Lions working to stabilize an up-and-down passing game CATCHING ON Thompkins en- joyed his best game of the sea- son against Iowa, catching five passes for 59 yards. Photo by Steve Manuel other black teammate. Dennie Hoggard rejoined the team after service in World War II. He had been a walk-on before the war but had played only on the jun- ior varsity team. In '46, the Penn State's varsity players voted unanimously in midseason to can- cel a late-November game at segregated Miami when the Hurricanes demanded that Penn State leave its only two black players at home. Triplett, who had been recruited by Miami before the head coach realized he was black, told me years later, "The players didn't under- stand the significance of what they did. I didn't either." The next season, the team did even more for civil rights when it integrated the Cotton Bowl in segregated Dallas, with the help of all-white SMU. The Penn State players had to stay and prac- tice at an isolated old naval airbase sev- eral miles from the usual hoopla of bowl games. A few years ago, Triplett began cru- sading for a memorial wall for the play- ers of those two teams. It's past time for that wall to be built. ■ |

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