By George B. Eichorn

Detroit Monitor

What a weekend of football around these parts.

 I took in the Michigan State 17-0 victory over Florida Atlantic University on Saturday in East Lansing. The weather was best-suited for ducks and gators rather than football fans. No more than one-third of the announced crowd of 70,321 could have been on hand at Spartan Stadium. Following each MSU score it appeared several hundred more fans left their seats for dryer conditions on or off campus.

The Spartans are now 2-1 under coach Mark Dantonio and certainly have a super star attraction in runner Javon Ringer. All he did was pile up 282 yards rushing on 43 carries with two touchdowns. That was the fourth-best single performance by a back in State’s long football history.

The senior from Dayton, Ohio, appears to have the college football world at his grasp. Can anyone say Heisman Trophy candidate and All-American potential? How does the Senior Bowl sound? And what about the National Football League draft come April? How about endorsements of sneakers, clothes or even a few car dealerships out Lansing way?

Yes, Ringer is the real thing – not a ringer!  He is looking forward as are his teammates to punishing the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame this Saturday, September 20 (3:30 p.m. kickoff) on national television as ABC-TV roles into our state. The Irish are 2-0 this new season, aftet defeating the Michigan Wolverines last Saturday in South Bend, 35-17.

The Wolverines are 1-2 and in the midst of their bye week. Thank goodness. New Coach Rich Rodriguez has extra time to prepare for the Big Ten Conference season knowing full well it will take a giant effort to contend with the likes of Ohio State, Wisconsin and MSU for a title and its automatic trip to the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day in Pasadena.

Michigan has one good thing going for it and he too is a runner. Freshman tailback Sam McGuffie appears to be worthwhile of all the pre-season press clippings that came his way. Against the Irish, he had 25 of U-M’s 42 rushes for 131 yards. He also contributed in the passing attack with four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown (good for 40 yards). Yes, McGuffie is a keeper.

Michigan played Notre Dame tough most of the game last Saturday and was obviously upset by a couple of borderline calls by the Big East officials working the contest in South Bend.  Yet calls or non-calls are part of the game and there’s not much you can do about it. Michigan was clearly outplayed in the second half by the Irish and six turnovers (four fumbles) clearly cost them the game. Even an injury to head coach Charlie Weis could not deter the Golden Dome players. He suffered a knee injury in the first half when he was aqccidently hit by one of his own players. Weis came out after halftime wearing a leg brace and coached on crutches the rest of the way.

Rodriguez has wisely settled on a first-string quarterback and that is Steven Threet. The Wolverines could not continue using both Threet and Nick Sheridan without the team suffering from a consistent direction and flow. I think both guys are decent but Threet deserves the nod based upon the first three Michigan games. Against the Iriish, he threw for 175 yards and one touchdown.

As for our other team of note, the Lions, it was a demoralizing home opener at Ford Field last Sunday as the team lost to the Green Bay Packers, 48-25, in an NFC North showdown. The Lions are now 0-2 in the young NFL season while the Pack is 2-0.

Fans are shouting “same old Lions” on talk radio shows and on blogs throughout the state. The team made a valiant comeback, after trailing 21-0, to take the lead at 25-24 only to watch Green Bay score 24 unanswered points. I don’t know if the defense felt all they had to do is show up on the field after taking that lead. Or did the Packers just feel more urgency than the Lions?

Quarterback Jon Kitna was horrible in the games last few minutes as he threw three interceptions, two of which were run back for touchdowns by the Packers, including one from former Michigan Wolverine Charles Woodson. The Lions threw this game away and that hurts. It hurts the fans that showed up, the ones back home watching and the future fans who will decide if they should shell out money to see these guys play.

Attendance at Ford Field will not improve unless the product on the field does. The traditional Thanksgiving Day game could be the only other sellout the rest of the way if this pattern of performance continues. Fans were not very happy as they streamed out the stadium and onto the surrounding streets last Sunday. Only a win or two would bring some of them back.

Meanwhile, Kitna will continue to endure the wrath of Lions fans. Yet with Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton waiting in the wings, I have a hunch that coach Rod Marinelli will be forced to make a change if losses continue to pile up. What else can he do? It’s too late to make any more trades or sign any free agents. The Lions are stuck pretty much with the personnel they got. It’s a matter of take it or leave it.

Back to the Spartans-Owls game. It was great to see the folks from Florida Atlantic come all the way up for the game. Owls coach Howard Schnellenberger is a winner on and off the field and took defeat with class. Quarterback Rusty Smith, considered by many as a can’t-miss NFL prospect, was hampered by the poor field and weather conditions the entire day. Let’s not judge his act on this single game. The Owls won the New Orleans Bowl last year and are again headed to the post-season should they shrug off this defeat at the hands of MSU.

Buy George Eichorn’s book, “Detroit Sports Broadcasters On the Air,” for $19.99 or less at amazon.com. Reach him at geichorn@yahoo.com.

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