A Look Back at Kenneth Walker III's Elite Performance for MSU vs. Michigan
Oct. 30, 2021.
The Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines are both undefeated. The bitter rivals are on a collision course with College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff both on campus in East Lansing.
The No. 9 ranked Spartans and the No. 3-ranked Wolverines played one of the most anticipated games in the college football season that year. Would Spartans’ star running back Kenneth Walker III run all over that excellent Wolverines defense? Or would Michigan emerge victorious and take Paul Bunyan back to Ann Arbor?
Today, let’s take a look back at one of the greatest performances in Spartan history: Walker’s 23-carry, 197-yard, five-touchdown performance.
Walker’s first touchdown came in the second quarter with the Spartans trailing 10-0. He bounced off what looked to be a tackle for loss, went left, and took it 27 yards to the house to eventually make it a three-point game.
Just 7 minutes later, trailing 13-7, the Spartans took advantage of Michigan being out of sorts before the snap. Payton Thorne handed it off to the right, and Walker essentially ‘walked’ into the end zone. Michigan State took the lead.
The Spartans trailed 30-14 in the third quarter. Michigan had all the momentum after Mike Sainristil caught a touchdown to extend the Wolverine lead.
Then, the momentum turned.
Thorne dropped a beautiful pass for Jayden Reed on 4th-and-4, which got the Spartans down to the one-yard line. They quickly punched it in with Walker for his third touchdown of the day. A two-point conversion made it a 30-22 game.
The fourth quarter arrives. Michigan State is down by a score — no problem for Walker.
Thorne hands it off to him up the middle, and he does the rest himself. 58 yards to the house. Touchdown No. 4. Thorne lobbed a two-point conversion attempt to the corner, and Reed "mossed" his defender to tie the game.
Michigan went down and kicked a field goal to take a three-point lead.
33-30.
How would Walker and the Spartans respond?
Oh, just with a 23-yard touchdown to the house. Five of them things. Nearly 200 yards. He added three catches for 11 yards as well.
A Charles Brantley one-handed interception sealed the game, and Paul Bunyan stayed home. The Spartans took down the Wolverines before a raucous home crowd, 37-33.
Walker’s five touchdowns are the most in a single game against the Wolverines in the program’s history.
Walker’s performance against Michigan should have secured his invite to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, but he was left out of being a finalist.
Either way, it is one of the greatest performances in Spartan football history.
Seeing who steps up for the Spartans against the Wolverines on Saturday will be fun.
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