GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Michigan State junior running back Kenneth Walker III made history Thursday night, becoming the first Spartan ever to win the prestigious Walter Camp Player of the Year Award as well as the Doak Walker Award.
Walker is only the ninth Big Ten player to be named the Walter Camp Player of the Year and the first since Troy Smith of Ohio State in 2006. He is also the first running back to win the award since Derrick Henry of Alabama in 2015. The Walter Camp Player of Year is voted on by the nation’s 130 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors.
Walker is the ninth Big Ten running back to win the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's best running back.
The Wake Forest transfer currently ranks second in the FBS with 1,636 rushing yards and leads the FBS in several other categories: rushing yards after contact (1,168), 20-plus yard carries (21) and missed forced tackles (89). His 18 rushing TDs are tied for fifth most in an MSU season.
The junior earned first-team All-America accolades, however, he became the first player in NCAA history to win the Camp Player of the Year Award yet not be named a Heisman finalists. Walker finished sixth in the Heisman voting.
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