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University of Minnesota Athletics
Bennett Earns Big Ten Special Teams Award
9/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 19, 2011
University of Minnesota senior running back Duane Bennett has been named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.
Bennett blocked a Miami (Ohio) punt, caught the ball at the RedHawk 4-yard line and took it into the end zone for what proved to be the decisive score in a 29-23 Minnesota victory Saturday. It was the first blocked punt and the first blocked punt to be returned for a touchdown since Keanon Cooper blocked one and Ben Kuznia returned it for a score vs. Illinois in 2009.
Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill was almost prophetic before the game, when talking to the team. He told them they would need to make a big special teams play, specifically mentioning blocking a kick, against Miami.
"I'll be darned if we didn't go out and block a kick," Kill said in the postgame press conference. "If we don't block that punt, we would not have won."
Bennett's honor is the first Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week award for the Gophers since Troy Stoudermire won the honor following the Illinois game last season.
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