Michigan State Football: Kenny Willekes named Week 1’s top defensive player

Michigan State football has one of the best defenses in college football and its top star, Kenny Willekes, was honored nationally in Week 1.

The first week of the season is in the books and it didn’t take Kenny Willekes long to grab some national headlines. He dominated the Tulsa offensive line and got to the quarterback early and often.

While his sack numbers aren’t eye-popping, he still made his impact on the game with seven total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, two fumble recoveries and a touchdown. He was all over the field and that earned him a national honor even before the first weekend of play is officially over (Notre Dame and Oklahoma still play).

Anyone who watches Clemson knows this isn’t a shock as Travis Etienne had a far better first game than teammate Trevor Lawrence and may be the No. 1 Heisman contender after Week 1. As for Willekes, this is impressive considering how many defensive stars there were around college football.

Michigan State had arguably the best defensive effort in the nation against Tulsa, holding the Golden Hurricane to negative-73 rushing yards and under 100 total yards.

The defensive side of the ball, especially Willekes, had to make up for the offense’s inconsistencies as the Spartans scored just one offensive touchdown — and it was on the first drive. Willekes matched the offense’s scoring with a strip sack and touchdown of his own.

It’s only Week 1 and Willekes already looks like the best defender in the Big Ten and arguably the best in college football, and the experts agree.