GREEN & WHITE FOOTBALL

Michigan State DE Kenny Willekes enjoys career day, gets two sacks in first Michigan game

Lansing State Journal

There was no need to swim or spin. Kenny Willekes had one thing in mind.

Get to the quarterback.

A powerful burst, then a strong shove to send Michigan right tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty stumbling 3 yards backward.

There was John O’Korn. And Michigan State’s sophomore defensive end crawled into the middle and wrestled the Wolverines’ quarterback to the ground.

Michigan State's Kenny Willekes celebrates a tackle for a loss during the third quarter on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017, at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

It was Willekes’ first career sack. In his first taste of the rivalry. And he would get another in the second half of the Spartans’ 14-10 victory over the Wolverines.

“We made sure this week in practice that we were getting a lot focus on bull-rushing a lot more and collapsing the pocket instead of trying to go to finesse moves,” Willekes said late Saturday night, still dripping with sweat and rain. “We were able to mix up the looks a little bit, mix up our blitzes (in MSU’s third-down package), so we were able to get a lot more pressure on the quarterback. And the guys in the back held up well, so we had a lot more time to get after him.”

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So did Willekes. The former walk-on from Rockford and Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian registered a career-high nine tackles, four of them solo, to go with his two sacks. The 6-foot-4, 244-pounder also spent much of the evening chasing O’Korn out of the pocket, part of the Spartans’ season-high four-sack performance, their most since Sept. 26, 2015, against Central Michigan.

“We talk about this every week – we’re a young team,” linebacker Chris Frey said. “We got a lot of guys that never played in this game before or played limited snaps in this game. A lot of those guys stepped up and made huge plays tonight.”

Michigan State's Kenney Willekes, bottom, sacks Michigan's John O'Korn during the second quarter on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017, at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

The dismissals of Auston Robertson and Josh King, along with the defection of Malik McDowell to the NFL a year early, left the Spartans with a void to fill at defensive end. Willekes has started all five games there for MSU, posting 26 tackles.

“Kenny is a guy who walked on here. He was a linebacker/fullback, and he’s grown up,” MSU coach Mark Dantonio said. “He’s about 250 pounds now and he’s transitioned into a defensive end. He just goes hard, he just goes hard. He’s athletic, he has linebacker skills and he’s athletic and is a very powerful guy.”

Willekes got his second sack late in the third quarter, fighting off a block from U-M left tackle Mason Cole to wrangle O’Korn for a loss as he tried to escape pressure. He also helped drop running back Chris Evans for a 3-yard loss on the Wolverines' penultimate drive.

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Then with the Spartans needing more defensive backs on the final play, Willekes retreated to the sidelines. His contributions were complete. He linked arms with his teammates and held his breath.

The ball rolled away, and Willekes stormed the field to celebrate.

“It’s a little bit of a relief. You put in so much hard work every day all week,” he said. “But it’s huge exuberation to get the win. There’s nothing like winning down here.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!