UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – As DeAndre Thompkins broke the first tackle with the Akron player grabbing onto the tail of his jersey, the Nittany Lions’ punt returner shook another and made his way to the outside.
At that moment, after already making two guys miss, the redshirt junior’s adrenaline flowed.
“[It’s like] getting in a fast car and just sticking your head out the window,” Thompkins said. “You feel free, like I can do this. Just keep on running.” 
That’s exactly what Thompkins did, dashing to his left while Amani Oruwariye, Zech McPhearson and Troy Apke sealed the side for him. There was nothing but open space in front of Thompkins as Cam Brown pushed one player to the ground and then all that stood between Thompkins and the end zone was Akron’s punter and a lingering thought he had since his redshirt freshman season.
“I get a flashback to Buffalo, getting tripped up by the kicker and I just hear my father in the back of my head saying, ‘Do not get stopped by the kicker,’ ” Thompkins said. “That’s just something in the back of my head. Whenever you see that one guy you literally can not let him stop you.”
Thompkins’ 61-yard punt return for a touchdown was Penn State’s first since 2008, busting a slump that spanned 34 returners and lasted 3,248 days. He also reeled off a 42-yard punt return the first half. Thompkins nearly broke the streak as a redshirt freshman with a 58-yard return that was halted shy of the end zone when Buffalo’s punter made a diving play.
While Thompkins called Saturday’s touchdown “relief” it was years in the making as Penn State’s continued emphasis on special teams paid off, something that James Franklin and special teams coordinator Charles Huff preached since they arrived.
“To see him have some success, I thought [Troy] Apke could break one there in the second half as well,” Franklin said. “He got grabbed by his baby toe and taken down, but I think that’s going to be really, really significant for us is if we can really become a threat in the return game, which we showed some of that today.”
Cornerbacks coach Terry Smith also works with the returners and it was Smith who told Thompkins all week he was going to score. The wide receiver, now more confident than ever after struggling in this exact role as a redshirt freshman because of fumbles, said his growth is because of experience and trust. He’s not jittery anymore and said he trusts that his teammates are going to do their job so all he has to do is secure the ball and then “make everybody miss.”
That development took time, but the confident return man had a message for Smith before he jogged onto the field and headed back deep for his record-breaking return.
“I told him to meet me in the end zone,” Thompkins said.
But before Thompkins was in the end zone and celebrating with a pumped-up sideline, it’s important to go back. Back to well before the play happened to figure out how Thompkins, the player who committed to Bill O’Brien and showed up in Happy Valley as a January enrollee the same day Franklin was introduced at Penn State, arrived at this moment.
Thompkins enrolled at Penn State and was undersized, but at the time had the team’s fastest 40-yard dash. During his redshirt season the focus was on him gaining weight and improving his strength, both feats that showed on Saturday as the 5-foot-11, 187-pound receiver used his speed and strength to slip defenders.
Thompkins, who Franklin said last Tuesday also is becoming a complete receiver, even churned out some extra yards after the catch on a 15-yard reception in the first quarter. He kept his balance and showed more of that elusiveness that he displayed in the return game.
“It’s not just exciting to have him believe in me, but also just [to believe in] myself,” he said. “To go out there and know that I’m a complete receiver, a complete punt returner, and a complete football player, to go out here and prove it to myself, that holds more value than anyone can ever believe. So, I go out there to try and prove my best to myself, and then whoever comes after that comes.”
There were two other people who played instrumental roles in Thompkins’ return, one of whom didn’t even suit up on Saturday and the other was only called upon twice in the 52-0 victory.
John Reid, last year’s starting cornerback, is Thompkins’ best friend on the team. While Reid, who returned punts last season, could miss all of this year with a knee injury sustained in spring ball, the two friends went back and forth all offseason looking at film and tendencies to see how one could help the other bust this slump.
“You guys don’t know how much me and John Reid talk. It’s absurd,” Thompkins said. “We talk all the time. That was one thing coming into the offseason and camp and spring ball we looked at the punt return spot and knew this was something that me and him individually could change on our team. … He was texting me and we were watching film about we could do this, we could do that, let’s do this, let’s do that. That’s my closest brother. We talk about it all the time. ... He was going crazy when I came to the sideline. I know he was happy for me and if the roles were switched I’d be crazy for him too.”
There was also punter Blake Gilikin, the sophomore whose booming leg proved to be a difference maker last season. Gillikin is tasked with challenging the Lions’ returners in practice, a role he doesn’t take lightly.
While Franklin said he’s heeded the advice of the special teams coaches to “stay away from the punt returner” and not yell and question them, rather trust that they’re prepared and capable of doing the job, Gillikin gives the returners a workout Sunday through Friday.
“That dude’s leg is insane,” Thompkins said. “In practice you look up and it’s like, ‘When is the ball going to come down?’ … There’s a very small percent of people in our conference and even in college football who can punt like him so he kind of challenges us to always be focused and he gives us different looks. He basically makes it more complicated in practice so when you’re in a game the ball literally comes to you, but in practice Blake kind of shanks it over here, shanks it over there, kicks it behind you, kicks it short and puts you in a great situation.”
So when Saturday afternoon’s punt came down right at him, this was a piece of cake compared to what Thompkins faced in practice.
There was also a sense of familiarity that buzzed up and down the sideline while the ball was in the air. The night before the game some of Penn State’s players sat at the team hotel and watched the Rutgers game where Washington's Dante Pettis returned Ryan Anderson's punt 61 yards for a touchdown.
“It was right up the middle and [special team's captain] Nick Scott kind of called it out and [Washington’s return] kind of came to my mind when I saw DeAndre start going up the middle,” defensive end Ryan Buchholz said. “On the jumbotron you couldn’t see who was coming ahead of him, but I figured he would score. It was awesome.”
While it was a play years in the making, should the Lions’ special teams continue with explosive plays like this it’ll be an additional element to an already potent offense. The mindset of scoring every time they touch the ball much like the offense showed was also evident in that third phase on Saturday.
“As a veteran player I go out there and I have no doubt that my players are going to do their job,” Thompkins said. “And, I have no doubt that I’m going to catch the ball and go to the end zone every time I touch it.”