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9 P.M. ET
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Photo by: MSU Athletic Communications
Walker's Big Night Leads Michigan State Past Northwestern, 38-21
9/4/2021 2:04:00 AM | Football
EVANSTON, Ill. – Kenneth Walker III had a Spartan debut to remember as Michigan State opened the 2021 season with a 38-21 victory at Northwestern on Friday night at Ryan Field.
Walker, a junior transfer running back, rushed for a career-high 264 yards – the seventh-highest total in MSU history – and scored a career-high four touchdowns to lead the Spartans. It marked the most rushing yards by a Spartan in a debut wearing the Green and White.
Overall, MSU racked up 511 yards of total offense, including 326 on the ground, the most rushing yards for the Spartans in a single game since 2014 at Indiana (330).
Making his second career start, Payton Thorne connected on 15-of-25 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown to get his first win as the starting quarterback. Thorne's favorite target was Jayden Reed, who hauled in five catches for 64 yards.
Senior safety Xavier Henderson led the Spartan defense with nine tackles, including two for losses and a sack, while sophomore safety Angelo Grose also had nine stops for the Spartans.
"I was proud of the performance today against a good opponent," said Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker. "Northwestern is always tough and (Coach) Fitzgerald always has his guys ready to play, so we knew that, and we knew it was going to be a four-quarter game. We were going to have to start fast, and we were able to do that. We wanted to play complementary football, offense, defense and special teams working together.
"We're 1-0, we're looking to get to the film, make the corrections because certainly there's a lot of them, and we'll get ready for the next one. I was proud of our effort today and proud of our young men."
Walker was at it right from the beginning. On the first play from scrimmage, the Arlington, Tennessee, native took his first handoff as a Spartan and raced 75 yards for a touchdown, quickly putting MSU on top.
After Northwestern missed a first goal on its first series, the Spartans put together a 10-play, 74-yard drive, capped by Walker's second TD of the game on a 3-yard run to take a 14-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.
The Spartans increased their lead to 21-0 on their first series of the second quarter, marching 66 yards on just four plays, finished off by a 14-yard screen pass from Thorne to Jordon Simmons.
Northwestern got on the board late in the half on a fourth-and-goal play where Hunter Johnson found Trey Pugh in the end zone for a 1-yard pass.
Walker scored his third rushing touchdown, a 5-yard burst into the corner of the end zone, at the 7:06 mark in the third quarter to give MSU a 28-7 advantage.
Northwestern responded with a 16-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that took 7:52 off the clock and trimmed the Spartan lead to 28-14.
Matt Coghlin's 37-yard field goal put the Spartans on top, 31-14, but the Wildcats scored another touchdown with 2:27 left in the game to make it a 10-point game.
That's when Walker put the game out of reach. After MSU recovered an onside kick, Walker carried the ball three more times – for 4 yards, 30, and then 6 for his fourth and final touchdown of the game with 57 seconds left.
Michigan State returns to action Saturday, Sept. 11 at noon in Spartan Stadium against Youngstown State.
Walker, a junior transfer running back, rushed for a career-high 264 yards – the seventh-highest total in MSU history – and scored a career-high four touchdowns to lead the Spartans. It marked the most rushing yards by a Spartan in a debut wearing the Green and White.
Overall, MSU racked up 511 yards of total offense, including 326 on the ground, the most rushing yards for the Spartans in a single game since 2014 at Indiana (330).
Making his second career start, Payton Thorne connected on 15-of-25 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown to get his first win as the starting quarterback. Thorne's favorite target was Jayden Reed, who hauled in five catches for 64 yards.
Senior safety Xavier Henderson led the Spartan defense with nine tackles, including two for losses and a sack, while sophomore safety Angelo Grose also had nine stops for the Spartans.
"I was proud of the performance today against a good opponent," said Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker. "Northwestern is always tough and (Coach) Fitzgerald always has his guys ready to play, so we knew that, and we knew it was going to be a four-quarter game. We were going to have to start fast, and we were able to do that. We wanted to play complementary football, offense, defense and special teams working together.
"We're 1-0, we're looking to get to the film, make the corrections because certainly there's a lot of them, and we'll get ready for the next one. I was proud of our effort today and proud of our young men."
Walker was at it right from the beginning. On the first play from scrimmage, the Arlington, Tennessee, native took his first handoff as a Spartan and raced 75 yards for a touchdown, quickly putting MSU on top.
After Northwestern missed a first goal on its first series, the Spartans put together a 10-play, 74-yard drive, capped by Walker's second TD of the game on a 3-yard run to take a 14-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.
The Spartans increased their lead to 21-0 on their first series of the second quarter, marching 66 yards on just four plays, finished off by a 14-yard screen pass from Thorne to Jordon Simmons.
Northwestern got on the board late in the half on a fourth-and-goal play where Hunter Johnson found Trey Pugh in the end zone for a 1-yard pass.
Walker scored his third rushing touchdown, a 5-yard burst into the corner of the end zone, at the 7:06 mark in the third quarter to give MSU a 28-7 advantage.
Northwestern responded with a 16-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that took 7:52 off the clock and trimmed the Spartan lead to 28-14.
Matt Coghlin's 37-yard field goal put the Spartans on top, 31-14, but the Wildcats scored another touchdown with 2:27 left in the game to make it a 10-point game.
That's when Walker put the game out of reach. After MSU recovered an onside kick, Walker carried the ball three more times – for 4 yards, 30, and then 6 for his fourth and final touchdown of the game with 57 seconds left.
Michigan State returns to action Saturday, Sept. 11 at noon in Spartan Stadium against Youngstown State.
Team Stats
MSU
NU
Total Yards
511
400
Pass Yards
185
283
Rushing Yards
326
117
Penalty Yards
50
40
1st Downs
23
20
3rd Downs
4
8
4th Downs
1
4
TOP
22:25
37:35
1st Quarter
MSU 7, NU 0
MSU - Walker III,Kenneth 75 yd run (Coghlin,Matt kick), 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:13
MSU 14, NU 0
MSU - Walker III,Kenneth 3 yd run (Coghlin,Matt kick), 10 plays, 74 yards, TOP 04:12
2nd Quarter
MSU 21, NU 0
MSU - Simmons,Jordon 14 yd pass from Thorne,Payton (Coghlin,Matt kick) 4 plays, 66 yards, TOP 01:28
MSU 21, NU 7
NU - Pugh,Trey 1 yd pass from Johnson,Hunter (Kuhbander,Charlie kick) 15 plays, 62 yards, TOP 06:44
3rd Quarter
MSU 28, NU 7
MSU - Walker III,Kenneth 5 yd run (Coghlin,Matt kick), 11 plays, 80 yards, TOP 04:20
4th Quarter
MSU 28, NU 14
NU - Pugh,Trey 5 yd pass from Johnson,Hunter (Kuhbander,Charlie kick) 16 plays, 69 yards, TOP 07:52
MSU 31, NU 14
MSU - Coghlin,Matt 37 yd field goal 10 plays, 59 yards, TOP 05:06
MSU 31, NU 21
NU - Robinson, Jr.,Stephon 14 yd pass from Johnson,Hunter (Kuhbander,Charlie kick) 8 plays, 61 yards, TOP 02:20
MSU 38, NU 21
MSU - Walker III,Kenneth 6 yd run (Coghlin,Matt kick), 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 00:57
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
15
TD
1
YDS
185
INT
0
Players Mentioned
K
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S
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S
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WR
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RB
/ FootballQB
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RB
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