50 defining moments from the 2021 Michigan State football season: No. 41

Welcome to day 10, thanks for sticking with me in the 10th edition of this Michigan State football series. Today’s focus is another Kenneth Walker III TD.

Welcome to day 10, I have officially hit the double-digit mark for articles in this Michigan State football series. Today, I will highlight yet another Kenneth Walker III touchdown run.

For the second time in this series, a pair of Walker touchdown runs come on back-to-back days. While I did not purposefully plan my series this way, this is very reflective of Walker’s season: impactful play after impactful play.

For those of you who missed yesterday’s article, please click here. If you would like to look at previous articles of this series, feel free to scroll through my writing profile.

No. 41: Kenneth Walker III 3-yard TD run vs. Maryland

Why No. 41?

This play came when Maryland was looking to fight back into the game. With Michigan State clinging to a 13-point lead, Maryland drove down the field and got to the Michigan State 24-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. On their ensuing drive, the Spartans proceeded to play keep away from the Terrapins, holding the ball for over three minutes and ending the drive with this Walker score.

This was also a sort of revenge on the Terrapin defense, as they had shut down Walker twice on the goal line earlier in the game. This led to a pair of touchdown tosses by Thorne, caught by Connor Heyward and Jayden Reed. If the Maryland defense did not sell out against the run on the goal line, Kenneth Walker would have had another four-touchdown game. Instead, he only had to settle for a pair of scores.

On this play, Walker III shows his patience and explodes through a hole the second he gets the opportunity, lowering his shoulder to break the plane. I would like to give a lot of credit to the Michigan State line and tight ends on this play, as their blocking scheme perfectly enabled this hole to form.

This play ranks at No. 41 as it was great, the offensive line performed admirably on this, but it was part of a three-possession rout. This falls into the category of “plays that prevented momentum from shifting.” I know I have mentioned plays like this a few times already in this series. When designing this list, tone-setting plays for routs or plays that stopped the opposing team’s momentum dominated the latter portion of my defining moments.

Statistically, this was Walker’s second touchdown on the day and 18th on the season (17 rushing, one receiving). It further solidified his case for end-of-season accolades. It is weird to realize that this was the second to last touchdown of K9’s Michigan State football career.

More importantly, it shut down any fleeting hope of a Maryland comeback. Maryland would turn the ball over on downs their next two drives. Seeing that this score made it a three-possession game, it does not take a mathematician to realize this play technically ensured victory if Maryland got a touchdown on each of their final two drives, falling one possession short of a tie or win. Michigan State would leave Spartan Stadium with a 19-point victory and improve their record to 9-1 on the season.

If you would like a hint for tomorrow, the Spartan defense will be featured on a crucial takeaway in an early-season matchup.