Michigan State DE Kenny Willekes earns 2nd-team All-America nod again

For the second straight year, Kenny Willekes is an All-American.

The Michigan State football senior defensive end Thursday was named to the second team by Walter Camp Football Foundation, the nation’s oldest All-America team which is selected by the head coaches and sports information directors of all Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Willekes also was on the Walter Camp second-team last year.

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On Monday, the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Rockford native won the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given annually to the nation's top player who began his career as a walk-on. Last week, Willekes joined Bubba Smith and Shilique Calhoun as MSU’s third defensive end in school history to twice earn first-team All-Big Ten honors after being named to the media’s first team for the second straight season. He also was a second-team selection by the league’s coaches.

Willekes, MSU’s first repeat Walter Camp All-American since Calhoun did it from 2013-15, broke Julian Peterson’s school record for tackles for loss with 49.5 for his career and leads all FBS player with 1.27 tackles for loss per game this season. He also leads the Spartans with nine sacks among his 14.5 tackles for a loss and 69 stops overall, adding a team-best 16 QB hurries going into their Pinstripe Bowl matchup against Wake Forest on Dec. 27 (3:20 p.m., ESPN).

Last season, Willekes was a consensus second-team All-American and won the Big Ten’s Defensive Lineman of the Year award. He was a third-team selection by both coaches and the media as a sophomore in 2017 after coach Mark Dantonio awarded him a scholarship before that season.

It is unclear if Willekes will play in the Pinstripe Bowl after suffering a broken leg in last year’s Redbox Bowl loss to Oregon that kept him from entering the NFL draft as an underclassman.

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Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.