SEC Football

Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III is the winner of the 2021 Doak Walker Award, which recognizes the best RB in college football.

Walker beat out finalists in junior Breece Hall of Iowa State and senior Tyler Badie of Missouri. 

Walker had the best season of his collegiate career in 2021, entering Saturday's regular-season finale against Penn State with 1,614 yards (second in FBS) and 18 touchdowns (T-3rd in FBS) on the ground in addition to 13 catches for 89 yards and a score. 

The 21-year-old transferred to Michigan State after two years at Wake Forest. He's racked up more rushing yards in his one season with the Spartans than he did in two seasons with the Demon Deacons. 

Walker was also named a finalist for the Maxwell Award, which is given to the nation’s best overall player. Brandon Van Pelt is the only Spartan to ever win the Maxwell Award, doing so in 1972. 

No Michigan State player had ever won the Doak Walker Award until this year.

Walker overcame some stiff competition for this award.

Hall had one of the best seasons of his collegiate career in 2021, rushing for 1,464 yards (fifth in FBS) and 20 touchdowns (T-1st FBS) on 253 carries in 12 games. He also caught 36 passes for 302 yards and three scores.

Badie had the best season of his collegiate career in 2021, rushing for a career-high 1,604 yards (third in FBS) and 14 touchdowns (T-6th FBS) on 268 carries in addition to 54 catches for 330 yards and four scores. 

Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis has won the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is given annually to college football's best defensive player. 

Davis earned the honor at the Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday.

Alabama sophomore linebacker Will Anderson Jr., Oregon junior defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and Notre Dame junior safety Kyle Hamilton were also named as finalists.

Here's a look at all four finalists' resumes, starting with the winner.

Georgia DT Jordan Davis

The 6'6", 340-pound Davis anchors the No. 1 defense in the country. Georgia has only allowed 9.5 points per game thanks in part to Davis, who has 28 tackles and two sacks.

Davis can do a little of everything, including run defense, running the football and running the school band:

Georgia opponents have only rushed for 2.6 yards per game in part because of Davis, who can count himself as one of the bedrocks of one of college football's most dominant teams.

The Bulldogs will be heading to the College Football Playoff as the No. 3 seed after a 12-1 campaign. They were 12-0 before falling 41-24 to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

Alabama LB Will Anderson Jr.

No defensive player has been more productive than Anderson, whose 15.5 sacks lead college football. He's also made 91 tackles (54 solo).

That performance follows up a 2020 season in which Anderson had 52 tackles and seven sacks for the undefeated Crimson Tide.

Take a look at some stats from the year that showcased just how good Anderson has been:

At 6'4" and 243 pounds, Anderson is an unstoppable force in the Alabama defense.

It hasn't always been easy for the Crimson Tide this year, as they suffered a 41-38 loss to Texas A&M and had to escape some close games against Florida and LSU, but having Anderson aboard has put Alabama in position to compete for another national title

Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux

Thibodeaux is the No. 1 option on many NFL draft boards, and for good reason: At his best, he's a ferocious, game-wrecking pass-rusher. Take his strip sack against Fresno State in a 34-31 season-opening win for example:

Despite missing time because of injury, Thibodeaux amassed 49 tackles (12 for a loss) and seven sacks in eight games. He left one of those games early with an injury and played limited snaps in a second one upon his return.

At 6'5" and 258 pounds, Thibodeaux is a force to be reckoned with, and he's a key reason Oregon was able to stay in the College Football Playoff picture late into the season.

Notre Dame S Kyle Hamilton

Hamilton's season has been limited to seven games because of a knee injury suffered against USC on Oct. 23. He was productive in those matchups with 34 tackles (19 solo) and three interceptions. 

NFL draft analysts love Hamilton, who is currently fourth on the NFL Mock Draft Database's consensus big board. So does Brian Kelly, who provided his own scouting report:

Hamilton's versatility helped Notre Dame stay in the College Football Playoff picture for yet another year as the one-loss Fighting Irish looked to earn a top-four spot. They finished just shy at No. 5 but will play in the Fiesta Bowl versus Oklahoma State.

Alabama sophomore Bryce Young was named the winner of the 2021 Davey O'Brien Award on Thursday. The award is given annually to the best quarterback in college football.

Young beat some stiff competition in Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett and Ohio State's C.J. Stroud.

In his first season as Bama's starting quarterback, Young enjoyed a huge statistical year, completing 68.0 percent of his passes and throwing for 4,322 yards, 43 touchdowns and four interceptions in 2021.

Young has also led the Crimson Tide to a 12-1 record and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff bracket.

After seeing very little action last season in a backup capacity behind Mac Jones, Young acclimated quickly to the starting job and helped Alabama maintain its status as one of the top teams in the nation.

Young has enjoyed no shortage of individual highlights this season, including throwing for five touchdowns in wins over Southern Mississippi, New Mexico State and Arkansas.

He led the Crimson Tide to a 49-9 demolition of a talented Mississippi State team in October, throwing for 348 yards, four touchdowns and no picks in the win.

However, Young squashed any doubt that he will sweep awards season this year after accounting for 461 yards (421 passing, 40 rushing) and four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in a 41-24 win over previously undefeated Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

While Alabama has had some excellent quarterbacks over the years, Young is only the second Tide signal-caller to win the Davey O'Brien Award, joining Jones, who won it last year.

Young's season isn't quite over yet either, as he is preparing to face Cincinnati in the CFP semifinals on Dec. 31.

The Alabama Crimson Tide football team will be without one of its key players for the College Football Playoff.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach reports starting cornerback Josh Jobe underwent foot surgery this week and is set to miss No. 1 Alabama's CFP semifinal game against No. 4 Cincinnati at the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Eve. Schlabach wrote that Jobe would also miss the Jan. 10 CFP National Championship Game if the Crimson Tide were to advance.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban said Jobe has been dealing with a turf toe injury throughout the last month of the regular season. 

A Miami-native who bypassed the NFL draft to return for his senior year, Jobe started 11 of 12 games in 2021 and 24 games in the past two seasons. He had seven tackles in the Crimson Tide's win over No. 3 Georgia in the SEC championship game on Saturday.

Jobe totaled 38 tackles, two interceptions and six passes defended this season. He ends his collegiate career with 129 tackles, two sacks, three interceptions, 22 passes defended and two forced fumbles. 

Jobe's injury is another blow to Alabama. Top receiver John Metchie III suffered a torn left ACL on a non-contact play in the first half against Georgia. Metchie, a junior, led the team with 96 receptions while adding 1,142 yards with eight touchdowns.

Freshman cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry has appeared in 12 games this season with four starts and is likely to replace Jobe in the starting lineup. He has 17 tackles, one interception and two passes defended this season.

It's not all bad news for Alabama heading into the CFP semifinal, as starting cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis is set to return from a two-game absence caused by a hip injury.

In a potential preview of the Heisman Trophy voting, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young was named the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year on Saturday.

According to Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press, Young received 42 of the 53 first-place votes submitted by AP Top 25 voters.

Young received 137 points in the voting, while the second-place finisher, Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, received 67 points, including four first-place votes.

The 20-year-old Young is one of four Heisman Trophy finalists, along with Hutchinson, Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett and Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud.

Pickett finished third in the AP Player of the Year voting and Stroud finished fifth, while Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. was fourth.

Young has enjoyed a hugely productive season, completing 68.0 percent of his passes for 4,322 yards, 43 touchdowns and four interceptions.

He has the Crimson Tide ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 12-1 record, and in a must-win game for their College Football Playoff hopes, Young led the Tide to a 41-24 win over previously unbeaten Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

Young is the second consecutive Alabama player to win the AP College Football Player of the Year Award, joining wide receiver DeVonta Smith last year.

Entering this season, the AP College Football Player of the Year Award winner has also won the Heisman Trophy five consecutive times. The last time the sweep didn't happen was 2015 when Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey won the AP award and Alabama running back Derrick Henry won the Heisman.

If Young does win the Heisman, he will be the fourth Crimson Tide player since 2009 to accomplish the feat.

Young, Hutchinson, Pickett and Stroud head to New York City where the Heisman Trophy winner will be announced Saturday.

LSU was reportedly prepared to go above and beyond to lure Jimbo Fisher back to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

According to The Action Network's Brett McMurphy, the university was willing to put an eight-year, $125 million contract on the table for the Texas A&M head coach. That would've been the biggest deal signed during a wild college football coaching carousel.

Fisher won a national championship at Florida State in 2013 and served as LSU's offensive coordinator from 2000 to 2006. The 56-year-old was a natural candidate to succeed Ed Orgeron.

Lincoln Riley now famously denied any interest in coaching the Tigers' vacancy but—important in retrospect—didn't specify he was returning to Oklahoma. He left for USC instead.

Fisher, on the other hand, was more vehement about wanting to stick around at A&M when addressing speculation about the LSU job.

"We're gonna recruit an unbelievable class this year," he told reporters in November. "So I'm the dumbest human being on God's earth to recruit all these guys to A&M so I can go across over there [to LSU] and go play against them."

The Aggies are third in 247Sports' composite team rankings for 2022.

While Fisher's championship pedigree sets him apart from many of his peers, some LSU fans might feel the Tigers dodged a bullet given the price athletic director Scott Woodward was open to paying.

Texas A&M hasn't won more than nine games since Fisher arrived in 2018, and that streak will continue into 2021 following an 8-4 regular season. The Aggies narrowly missed out on the College Football Playoff in 2020 on the strength of an 8-1 record, but that was such a fluky year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In general, it seems safe to assume Texas A&M was hoping to get a little more from Fisher to this point in his tenure. And just when the program appeared to be turning a corner—an upset of No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 9—it closed the year with losses to Ole Miss and LSU over its final three games.

Even in this market, it's difficult to justify paying Fisher $13 million annually.

For LSU, the Brian Kelly era isn't exactly off to a roaring start.

However, Kelly's resume is comparable to Fisher's. Notre Dame didn't win a national title under his watch, but five straight 10-win seasons and two playoff appearances are probably the Fighting Irish's ceiling right now.

Paying Kelly $100 million over 10 years is risky but arguably a more sound investment than going even higher for Fisher's services.

LSU starting quarterback Max Johnson has entered the transfer portal, he announced Tuesday.

The news comes after the Tigers hired former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly to become their next bench boss following the departure of Ed Orgeron.

Johnson spent the first two years of his college career at LSU. During his 2021 sophomore season, he completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 2,814 yards and 27 touchdowns against six interceptions in 12 games. 

The 20-year-old started all of LSU's regular-season games, leading the Tigers to a 6-6 record, after Myles Brennan suffered an arm injury before the 2021 campaign began. Brennan also announced his decision to leave LSU last month. 

In addition, wide receiver Deion Smith is also expected to enter the transfer portal, per The Athletic's Brody Miller. Johnson's brother, class of 2022 4-star tight end Jake Johnson, also announced his decommitment from LSU on Tuesday. 

The Tigers have also lost several other players to the transfer portal, including cornerback Elias Ricks, receiver Koy Moore and linebacker Navonteque Strong. 

With Johnson leaving LSU, Garrett Nussmeier is the school's only remaining quarterback on scholarship. If Nussmeier plays in the Texas Bowl on Jan. 4, that will burn his redshirt, so it will be interesting to see how the Tigers handle the situation. 

However, Walker Howard, a 5-star quarterback out of Lafayette, Louisiana, will arrive in January as a true freshman. 

In addition, LSU could explore a replacement for Johnson in the transfer portal. Several talented quarterbacks are available, including Spencer Rattler, Quinn Ewers, Dillon Gabriel and Jake Haener. 

The Tigers have a lot of work to do after a rough two seasons since winning the national championship game in 2019 with Joe Burrow at quarterback. 

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young believes his teammate, Crimson Tide linebacker Will Anderson Jr., deserved to be named a finalist for this year's Heisman Trophy, which is awarded annually to college football's most outstanding player.

"I definitely think he was deserving," Young told reporters Tuesday. "If you look at numbers, you look at production, I definitely think he deserves to be there. It's unfortunate that he's not going to be there."

Young, Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett and Ohio State signal-caller C.J. Stroud were announced Monday as this year's finalist for college football's most coveted award. 

Anderson has 92 tackles this season and also leads the country with 32.5 tackles for a loss and 15.5 sacks, per ESPN. He won the Nagurski Award on Monday as college football's best defensive player.

His 2021 performance has matched up to some of the most dominant defenders over the last 10 years.

Anderson's best performance of the season came against Mississippi State on Oct. 16, when he finished with four sacks, six tackles and four tackles for a loss.

Hutchinson, meanwhile, has 55 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks this year. He didn't record a four-sack game, but did have a three-sack performance against Penn State on Nov. 13.

Anderson seems unbothered by the snub.

"I have nothing to prove to anybody," Anderson said. "It's all what I do. Nobody's expectations are higher for me. ... I'm just gonna keep doing what I've been doing this whole season."

A defensive player has not won the Heisman since 1997 when former Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson won it.

Young is viewed as the favorite to win this year's award. The sophomore has thrown for 4,322 yards, 43 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. He has also rushed for 31 yards and three scores.

One of his best games of the year came in the 41-24 victory over Georgia in the SEC championship game when he threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to rushing for 40 yards and a score.

Pickett, meanwhile, threw for 4,319 yards and 42 touchdowns against seven interceptions this season. The redshirt Pittsburgh senior also rushed for 233 yards and five touchdowns.

The Heisman winner is set to be announced Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. 

Alabama coach Nick Saban said receiver John Metchie "has an ACL and will be out" for the Cotton Bowl.

The Crimson Tide is scheduled to face Cincinnati on New Year's Eve in the national semifinal.

Metchie suffered the injury during Saturday's 41-24 win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Saban discussed the injury Sunday on ESPN (via Charlie Potter of 247Sports):

John Metchie's been an outstanding player for us, no doubt. He's a good leader. He's the leader of that group in a lot of ways. He has the most experience. He's been here the longest. He's been very productive. We hate to see any player get injured. It was a non-contact injury. We haven't confirmed it yet, but we're pretty certain that he has a pretty significant knee injury.

Metchie leads the team with 96 catches and ranks second with 1,142 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

The junior had six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown in the first half against Georgia before leaving with the knee injury.

Alabama will miss his presence against Cincinnati, which ranks tied for fourth in the country with just 16.1 points allowed per game this season.

Jameson Williams will remain the go-to option in the passing game for Bryce Young, but no one else on the roster has more than 400 receiving yards this season. Slade Bolden will be the next man up at receiver while Traeshon Holden and Jojo Earle could see more playing time going forward.

The injury is also significant for Metchie as he prepares for his future beyond college.

ESPN's Todd McShay listed the wideout as the No. 7 player at his position in the 2022 NFL draft class.