Running back Javon Ringer carried Michigan State to a 23-7 victory over Notre Dame in East Lansing on Saturday. And he did it almost single-handedly, rushing for 201 yards on a whopping 39 carries and also scored two touchdowns.
Ringer’s 200-yard day was his second in as many weeks after rushing for 282 yards in a 17-0 win over Florida Atlantic last Saturday. So far on the season, he has totaled 699 yards on 143 carries and 11 touchdowns.
So why aren’t we hearing his name mentioned more for the Heisman? Entering this week (as in, before his 201-yard effort against Notre Dame) only Navy’s Shun White and Connecticut’s Donald Brown had more rushing yards than Ringer. And no back had as many touchdowns. Yet oddsmakers currently have Ringer has a 20/1 long shot to win college football’s most prestigious award.
Playing for Michigan State doesn’t help, but Ringer deserves more attention than he’s getting. And as previously noted, he has been the backbone of the Spartans’ offense and often carries them to victories. While he doesn’t have the size of OSU’s Beanie Wells, Ringer has a thick lower half and runs hard between the tackles. And anyone who has watched him over the past couple weeks and throughout his career knows how explosive he can be. He also benefits from his small stature, because defenders lose him behind MSU’s big offensive line.
It’ll be interesting to see how Ringer fares later in the season against better Big Ten defenses like Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State. If he can continue to turn out 150-plus yard games, he’ll definitely turn some voters’ heads. (If he hasn’t already.)
