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WATCH: Kenny Willekes making an early case for B1G Defensive Player of the Year with strip-sack TD

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Kenny Willekes was the B1G’s Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2018, but he could be the conference’s defensive player of the year this fall. He’s off to a pretty good start.

In the second quarter of Michigan State’s opener against Tulsa, Willekes was able to drag down quarterback Zach Smith, force a fumble and recover it in the end zone for the touchdown, giving the Spartans a 22-0 lead in the contest.

It was a huge play early in the game to give MSU a three-touchdown advantage. Not a bad start for a player coming off a broken leg in the Redbox Bowl last year.

Willekes finished last season with 20.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks, enough to earn him the league’s Defensive Lineman of the Year Award.

Talk about picking up where he left off.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB