PEACH BOWL WILL NOT HAVE 2 STARS

The Peach Bowl will go on without Kenneth Walker and Kenny Pickett.

Walker, an All-America running back at Michigan State, and Pickett, a recordsetting quarterback for Pittsburgh, both announced Thursday they are skipping the bowl game to focus on the NFL Draft.

Walker and Pickett both revealed their respective decisions in social media posts on Thursday, leaving the 11th-ranked Spartans (10-2) and 13th-ranked Panthers (11-2) without their biggest stars for the Dec. 30 game in Atlanta.

Pickett, the ACC Player of the Year and third-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy voting, thanked the university, head coach Pat Narduzzi, offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, his teammates and the fans in a lengthy Twitter post. Pickett called the celebration after the Panthers won their first ACC title with a win over Wake Forest earlier this month “one of the best moments of my career.”

It’s a moment few saw coming entering the fall before Pickett started re-writing the Pitt record book. He set new school marks for touchdown passes in a season (42) and yards passing in a season (4,319) while guiding the Panthers to 11 wins for the first time since 1981. He captured the Johnny Unitas Award last week and was named a second-team All-American by The Associated Press.

Pickett’s breakout season has rocketed him up NFL draft boards. He is expected to be among the first quarterbacks selected in April.

Hours before Pickett said he was heading to the NFL, Walker did the same, a decision Michigan State coach Mel Tucker supported.

“I want to congratulate Ken for all his success and thank him for taking a chance on us,“Tucker posted.

Walker, a Tennessee native, transferred from Wake Forest after his sophomore season and helped Tucker’s turnaround. The Spartans won two games in Tucker’s debut season last year that was shortened by the pandemic.

Michigan State won 10 games this year, including handing rival Michigan its only loss.

Notable

West Virginia running back Leddie Brown says he’ll skip the Mountaineers’ bowl game to focus on preparations for the NFL Draft.

Brown surpassed 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons.

Adrian Martinez is heading to Kansas State from Nebraska. The fouryear starting quarterback for the Cornhuskers announced on Twitter that he would transfer to K-State. He is immediately eligible.

Fifth-year senior QB Myles Brennan has decided to exit the transfer portal and return to LSU under new head coach