EAST LANSING – At the end of last season, into spring practice and heading into the fall, much was made about how Michigan State ever could hope to replace Kenneth Walker III, possibly the nation’s top running back in 2021.
All that speculation never crossed the mind of one player tabbed to succeed Walker this season.
“I wouldn’t say trying to replace him was one of our big things,” Jarek Broussard, a transfer from Colorado, said Tuesday. “I feel like it really just comes down to maximizing your role and doing whatever it takes to help the team win. If you ain’t winning, who really cares what you’re doing?”
Through two games, the Spartans are winning — they’re 2-0, after a pair of victories over MAC foes Western Michigan and Akron. The running back duo of Broussard and Jalen Berger has been a key component of the team’s success. In last week’s 52-0 win over the Zips, the pair combined to rush for five touchdowns, three for Berger and two for Broussard. (Fellow running back Elijah Collins scored one rushing touchdown as well.) Berger and Broussard are close to evenly split in terms of carries so far: Berger has 33 attempts while Broussard has 25. Berger has a sizable lead in yardage (227 to 135) and has twice as many touchdowns (four to two).
Broussard said there’s no jealousy between the two, though. They room together at the team hotel the night before games — which they’ll do again Saturday in MSU’s first road contest of the season, facing Washington in Seattle at 7:30 p.m. — and bond off the field. They play video games. They pore over the game plan together.
Their relationship couldn’t be better.
“We don’t have a pouty (running back) room,” Broussard said. “(It’s like), ‘You go work, and I got you. I’m going to pick up where you drop off, and we’re just going to keep things rolling.’ “
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