Sports: Lions, Spartans Win; Red Wings lose

The Lions moved to 6-4 with a 26-19 win over Jacksonville at Ford Field on Sunday.  The Lions have won five of six despite trailing in the fourth quarter of every game. For a change, Matthew Stafford didn't have to lead a game-winning drive in the final minutes.   The Lions offense did not look good for much of the game. They had more punts (five) than rushing yards (two) and just 18 yards passing late in the first half.  Andre Roberts called for a fair catch and fumbled on a punt, which led to a Jaguars field goal.  But Roberts made up for it with a 55 yard punt return to give the Lions a 6-3 lead in the second quarter.  Rafael Bush put them ahead 16-9 early in the third when he returned an interception 39 yards for a TD.  Eric Ebron had a go-ahead, 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.  Ebron's first carry of his career, a handoff as he went from left to right after lining up as an off-the-line tight end, was set up by his career-long, 61-yard catch.  The Jaguars had a chance to force Detroit to punt, or to go for it on a fourth-and-3 from their 46. Nose tackle Sen'Derrick Marks, though, was penalized for encroachment on a play in which Stafford probably didn't intend to have the ball snapped.    Safford converted a third-and-5 from the Jacksonville 36 with a 7-yard pass to Theo Riddick with 2:18 left that helped set up Matt Prater's 43-yard field goal with 22 seconds left.  Riddick had 8 catches for 70 yards on the day.

The 6-4 Lions are tied with Minnesota for first place in the NFC North.  Detroit will play the Vikings on Thursday at Ford Field.   Broadcast time is 11:30am on 104.9 The Edge.

NFL

The Dallas Cowboys are now riding a franchise-record nine-game winning streak. Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes as the Cowboys improved to 9-1 in a 27-17 win over the Ravens.

Kirk Cousins passed for 375 yards and three TDs in leading the Washington Redskins past Green Bay 42-24 last night.

The Browns are 0-11 after losing to the Steelers.

Monday Night Football

The Oakland Raiders play the Houston Texans in Mexico City.

College Basketball
Eron Harris had 31 points and No. 13 Michigan State held off Florida Gulf Coast 78-77 on Sunday night when a timekeeping error led to a disputed finish.  With 1.6 seconds remaining, Florida Gulf Coast threw a long inbounds pass from underneath its own basket. But the clock incorrectly started when the pass was thrown, rather than when Antravious Simmons caught the ball by the foul line at the other end of the court.  So as Simmons turned to try a game-winning shot, the buzzer sounded — much too early. Simmons missed his attempt, but FGCU players looked confused and Coach Joe Dooley sought an explanation.  Officials went to a video review as players and fans waited to find out if the game was in fact over. Following the delay, the play stood and Michigan State escaped.  The Spartans play St. John’s in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday…. 6pm on WBCK.   They play either Baylor or VCU on Thursday.  The tournament ends with a game on Friday.

WMU Loses in Basketball

Western Michigan lost to Boise State, 91-70 at the Charleston Classic on Sunday.  Western Michigan (1-4) had hoped to end its futility in Charleston, but instead fell to 0-6 all-time in the event.  Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins was called for two technicals and ejected for arguing with officials.

Red Wings

The Calgary Flames beat the Red Wings 3-2.   Tomas Tatar and Anthony Mantha scored for Detroit, which lost its fourth straight.   Mikael Backlund scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:46 left in the third period.  Backlund broke a 2-all tie when he slammed Michael Frolik's pass from the left circle past Howard and into the open side of the net. It was Backlund's second goal.  Jimmy Howard made 23 saves.

NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson continued his domination of the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit by capturing his seventh NASCAR championship.  Johnson held off defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch and Joey Logano on a late restart.

 College Football

The Big Ten placed three teams in the top five of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time in 56 years, setting up a No. 2 vs. No. 3 matchup for Ohio State and Michigan.

Alabama was a unanimous No. 1 in the poll released Sunday. The Buckeyes were No. 2 and Wolverines No. 3. They meet in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday in a game with Big Ten and national championship implications.

Clemson is No. 4, and No. 5 Wisconsin gives the Big Ten three of the first five for the first time since Nov. 7, 1960, when Minnesota was No. 1, Ohio State was No. 3 and Iowa was No. 5.

11-0 Western Michigan remains #14 and hosts Toledo this Friday at Waldo Stadium.   Be listening to the WBCK Morning Show to win tickets.

Michigan State plays at # 8 Penn State this Saturday.

#3 Michigan is at #2 Ohio State on Saturday on 104.9 the Edge.

PGA Golf

The final PGA event of the year will be completed Monday. Mackenzie Hughes was the third player to have a putt to win the RSM Classic in a playoff but he missed and four players will have to return to finish the playoff.

MacKenzie, Blayne Barber, Camilo Villegas and Henrik Norlander had to return Monday morning. The winner gets in the Masters.

Volleyball

The defending Class C state champion Bronson Vikings repeated to win a second straight title on Saturday.

Pistons

The Pistons host the Houston Rockets tonight.