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Michigan State Football: Midseason awards for 2021 Spartans

By Connor Muldowney

Michigan State's Payton Thorne, left, and Kenneth Walker III celebrate after beating Western Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211002 Msu Wku Fb 225a
Michigan State's Payton Thorne, left, and Kenneth Walker III celebrate after beating Western Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211002 Msu Wku Fb 225a /
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Oct 2, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Kenneth Walker III (9) runs for a touchdown during the second quarter against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Kenneth Walker III (9) runs for a touchdown during the second quarter against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

Top transfer: Kenneth Walker III

This one seemed pretty obvious. Kenneth Walker III was getting hyped up all offseason long and that led to him winning the starting running back job over Elijah Collins, Harold Joiner, and Jordon Simmons, and it has turned out to be the strongest position on the team because of him.

Walker III leads all of college football with 913 rushing yards and he’s been efficient, averaging 7.1 yards per carry and racking up nine touchdowns. He’s already broken some career-highs and he’s arguably the top Heisman Trophy candidate at this point in the year.

We haven’t seen a running back with this strength, patience, elusiveness, and speed in East Lansing since probably Javon Ringer and he, too, was a Heisman candidate.

The Wake Forest transfer has four 100-yard games, three games over 170 yards, and two over 200 yards on the year. His Heisman campaign is very real.

Will Walker III continue this torrid pace? It’s too early to tell, but if he can average somewhere around 150 yards over the final six games, he’s going to be taking home some hardware.

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