Heisman race 2021: Kenneth Walker III delivers what we’ve been waiting for, a Heisman Moment

The Michigan State running back may still be trailing Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, but his candidacy now has something the SEC passers can’t match.

If — or more specifically when, in the age of Name, Image and Likeness — college football takes the full plunge into NFTs, there shouldn’t be a more valuable asset or a hotter commodity than the Heisman Moment.

Think Desmond Howard striking the pose in 1991 vs. Ohio State; Reggie Bush’s ankle-breaking touchdown run in 2005; Sam Bradford flipping into the end zone against Oklahoma State in 2008; Johnny Manziel scrambling and shaking his way through Alabama’s defense in 2012; and, last season, DeVonta Smith’s ridiculous one-handed catch against LSU.

Kenneth Walker III’s performance against Michigan could end up joining the marketplace.

The Michigan State running back rolled to 197 yards and five touchdowns on 23 carries in the 37-33 win, the biggest and clearest statement anyone in this trophy race has delivered as we enter the last full month of the season.

Here’s how monstrous — and in the last 21 years, how unprecedented — of a day Walker had in taking down No. 6 Michigan. Since 2000, there have been 46 other running backs that had 195 or more yards and five touchdowns during the regular season, but only 11 did it on 23 carries or less, and just four did so against Power 5 opponents. But none of them, not a single, solitary one, had that kind of a performance against a Top-25 team.

Not even Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram, Bush, or Ron Dayne, the last four running backs to win the Heisman, had that kind of scoring day with the kind of yardage that Walker put up against the Wolverines. The last runner that did en route to the trophy was Texas’ Ricky Williams, who ran for 318 yards and six scores on Sept. 27, 1998 vs. Rice and 350 yards and five scores on Oct. 4, against Iowa State.

Walker may still be chasing the SEC quarterbacks in Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral in the eyes of many, but his campaign now has something there’s doesn’t in that defining moment, and you have to wonder why he’s still trailing that duo.

Young has been good, ranking 10th in FBS in yards (2,453) and fifth in touchdown passes (26) and efficiency rating (177.1), but you can also argue that he hasn’t been Heisman-level. We’re still waiting for him to be that transcendent player. Granted, he and the Crimson Tide remain on track to face top-ranked Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, and Auburn’s rise — now up to No. 12 after back-to-back wins over No. 17 Arkansas and No. 10 Ole Miss — only provide more future stages for him to solidify his standing and keep his team in the hunt to reach the College Football Playoff.

Meanwhile, Corral now has two losses, the last of which against Auburn included his first game without a touchdown pass and the second time in three games he threw an interception. In that same span, he’s had a completion percentage of 56.8 percent or lower two times. Corral has just one ranked opponent — No. 13 Texas A&M on Nov. 13 — remaining in a trophy case that may be losing its steam.

Things are potentially just heating up for Walker, and from a Heisman perspective, he has arguably the biggest matchup of contender vs. contender still on the board against C.J. Stroud in a Nov. 20 trip to No. 6 Ohio State, followed by No. 22 Penn State a week later. Stroud has seen his own odds increase with the Buckeyes’ offense catching fire, and if Walker can help take him and the Buckeyes down – in Columbus, no less — it has the chance to be another line on the impressive resume Walker is building, and the first legitimate case for a running back since Stanford’s Bryce Love was runner-up in 2017.

Heading into Week 9, Walker is on pace for a shade under 1,800 yards — he’s averaging 149.2 yards per game – and ahead of the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions, the Spartans face Purdue, which gave up 390 yards to Wisconsin on the ground, and Maryland, a defense that has been burned for 326 yards by Minnesota. While it’s been no guaranteed path to the trophy the last 20-plus years, there’s still an outside chance he challenges for 2,000 by the time votes are due.

Punch a ticket to the Big Ten finale and keep Michigan State challenging for a playoff spot and that moment vs. the Wolverines could become something much bigger.

It could turn into a Moment.

Heisman race 2021: Who is heating up, who is cooling off?

Buy: Caleb Williams, Oklahoma

No Power 5 quarterback had a more efficient month than Williams, who didn’t even take over the reins of the Oklahoma offense until two weeks into October. He led the way with a 212.15 rating, throwing 14 touchdown passes to one interception, punctuating the month with six scoring strikes and 402 yards in a rout of Texas Tech. On throws of 20 or more yards, the freshman was 6-of-7 for 218 yards and three scores, and all six scores came on throws of 10 or more yards, which tops all FBS passers this season. Since he took over, the Sooners are averaging a nation’s-best 46.2 points per game.

Sell: Matt Corral, Ole Miss

He and the Rebels’ latest setback came with a scary moment as Corral headed to the sideline unable to put any weight on his left leg after he avoided a sack against Auburn. He’d return and proceeded to throw an interception into the end zone. He still threw for 289 yards and ran for another 45, including an 11-yard touchdown, but it’s hard not to see this as another blemish on his Heisman resume. Corral is now playing on two injured ankles, is down his top three wide receivers, and still seeking a signature win on the season. A date with No. 13 Texas A&M is still looming, but with the Rebels further tumbling down the SEC West standings, can he do enough to outshine the other challengers?

Buy: C.J. Stroud, Ohio State

The numbers may not jump off the page, as Stroud threw for a single touchdown to go with 305 yards through the air in the Buckeyes’ win over Penn State, especially after throwing for no fewer than four scored in the previous three games. But in taking down the then-No. 20 Nittany Lions, he picked up his first Top 25 victory on the season, capping an October in which the redshirt freshman finished second among Power 5 players with a 206.1 rating. He should end this week with a touchdown pass or two (if not more), as the Buckeyes take on Nebraska, which has allowed five in its last two games, both losses.

Sell: Kenny Pickett, Pitt

On a positive note, Pickett passed Pitt legend Dan Marino with his 83rd touchdown and racked up a single-game school record of 519 yards, but after beating Clemson, this amounted to a letdown for the Panthers. They fell 38-34 to Miami and tumbled out of the Top 25 as Pickett threw two picks, including one in the end zone when his offense had a chance to go up in the fourth quarter. He remains a factor to reach New York as a finalist and Pitt is still sitting atop the Coastal Division with a clear path to the ACC Championship Game, but there’s a clear ceiling with him as a Heisman contender.

Buy: Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati

First and foremost for his candidacy, Cincinnati remains unbeaten and No. 2 in the nation ahead of the first CFP rankings, which will give us a real indication of how viable a threat the Bearcats are to crash the part. Ridder had his biggest output through the air in three weeks, as he threw for 227 yards, three touchdowns in a romp of Tulane, while also running for a season-high 47 yards. It wasn’t without its miscues, with the senior getting picked off and he was sacked in the end zone for a safety. Statistics will never be in his favor, ranking 46th at 230 yards per game, but so long as we’re talking about the Bearcats as CFP contenders, Ridder is a viable threat to earn a spot at the ceremony.

Sell: Bijan Robinson, Texas

While another running back’s star is rising, Robinson’s is falling. The Longhorns sophomore had his streak of five straight games with at least 127 yards snapped, as Baylor held him to a season-low 43 yards on 17 carries, a paltry 2.5 yards per attempt that was nearly four yards less than he averaged going into that matchup. It will get no easier this week, with Texas heading to Ames to take on Iowa State. The Cyclones are 14th in FBS and second in the Big 12, allowing 101.8 yards per game on the ground, with only one runner hitting the century mark against them on the season.

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