Michigan State football must rely on Kenneth Walker III against Purdue

Michigan State football was able to upset No. 6 Michigan last week in East Lansing. The Spartans stunned the Wolverines 37-33 and were able to climb to No. 5 in the latest AP Poll, No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, and No. 3 in the first College Football Playoff rankings.

This upcoming week, Michigan State faces Purdue. The game is at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Purdue isn’t a cakewalk. This isn’t a team that the Spartans will walk all over. The Boilermakers took down No. 2 Iowa 24-7. They didn’t just walk away with an upset. They obliterated them.

Their performance against the Hawkeyes gave Purdue their first AP poll ranking since 2007.

Michigan State football is looking to avoid an upset against Purdue

Last week, Purdue beat Nebraska. They also lost to Wisconsin, but the Badgers have found their way back into the race to win the division. We know Michigan beat them, but Wisconsin doesn’t have a bad team.

At his Monday press conference, Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker said he has “zero tolerance” for entitlement or “anything like that.” He then went on to say that Purdue has 16 wins against top-five opponents while being unranked. It’s the most in FBS. Then he listed the nine wins that were against teams ranked in the AP top two.

No, Michigan State isn’t playing into the “trap game” narrative. It was nice to beat Michigan but now they need to show how they are legit. Michigan State’s win was so nice, they jumped Ohio State in the AP Poll. They’re also ahead of Ohio State, Oregon, and Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff rankings.

To beat Purdue, the Spartans will need to rely on Kenneth Walker III

Heisman favorite Kenneth Walker III ran for 197 yards and five touchdowns in Saturday’s win against Michigan. It was his best performance since exploding for a 75-yard touchdown run to open the season against Northwestern. And he’s just getting started.

This season, Purdue has allowed 140 rushing yards per game. They’re 53rd in FBS right now. Against Nebraska, Purdue allowed 130 rushing yards. A week prior, they gave up 290 rushing yards to Wisconsin.

Perhaps they’ll be able to lean on Walker more heavily if Michigan State’s defense isn’t able to step up, as they were against Michigan in the second half. There’s also the fact that Jalen Nailor is out with injury, and may not play Saturday. The passing game would suffer.

Against Wisconsin, Purdue had -13 rushing yards but threw for 290. If Michigan State isn’t careful, Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell will throw it all over Michigan State’s secondary.

Even with all the hype, Michigan State needs to be laser-focused on beating Purdue this weekend. It’s a recipe that’s needed for the Spartans’ first 10-0 start since 1965.