Here are five takeaways from this past weekend's football action around the state.
Where does this Lions collapse rank?
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Just when it appeared the Lions had cornered the market on ways to turn victory into defeat over the years, they amaze even the most cynical fans by coming up with a creative way to turn victory into a horrible tie.
Holding a 24-6 lead in the fourth quarter against the league’s worst team last year who also now have a rookie quarterback in Kyler Murray, the Lions saw Arizona tie the game at 24-24 with 43 seconds left in regulation.
The Lions looked like they had the game all but won when they converted a third down with less than three minutes left, but the coaching staff signaled timeout just before the successful play was snapped.
The Lions failed to convert on the third down after the timeout and punted it back to the Cardinals, who drove down the field for a touchdown and 2-point conversion that tied the game.
The Lions were actually lucky to avoid a loss after Arizona dropped an interception with five seconds left in overtime deep in Detroit territory, which could have led to a makeable game-winning field goal attempt.
The Lions' first tie since 1984 was the worst way to open up the season with a fan base already muttering “same old Lions.”
No time to panic for Michigan
Yes, Michigan was nearly a 24-point favorite against Army, and U-M fans were left simmering after the Wolverines survived a missed game-winning field goal attempt by Army at the end of regulation before prevailing in double-overtime.
But keep in mind, Army nearly upset Oklahoma last year and is a good bet to win at least 10 games this season.
Army is not chopped liver, so winning the game is ultimately what matters for the Wolverines.
Concerns about Patterson?
However, there might be some growing issues with U-M senior quarterback Shea Patterson, who looked shaky at times against Army despite finishing 19-of-29 passing for 207 yards.
The past few years, the most popular player on Michigan’s roster has been the backup quarterback, and now some fans are already clamoring for sophomore Dylan McCaffrey to get more of a look.
Complete 180 for Michigan State’s offense
Many Michigan State fans had one big question following Saturday’s 51-17 rout of Western Michigan.
Where has this offense been?
After a poor performance by the offense in the season opener against Tulsa that saw even head coach Mark Dantonio call out the unit, the Spartans were a completely different team against the Broncos.
MSU scored three touchdowns in the first quarter alone, amassed 582 yards of total offense and might have found their running back of the present and future in freshman Elijah Collins, who ran for 192 yards on 17 carries.
The beauty of the offense sure made up for the ugliness of the special neon green alternate uniforms MSU wore.
Preps upset
West Bloomfield, the consensus No. 1 team in the state in Division 1 going into the season, suffered a 24-17 loss to Birmingham Groves in the second game of the season.
The loss isn’t the end of the world for West Bloomfield, especially since Groves should be one of the state’s better teams in Division 2.
Still, it didn’t take long for there to be a minor shakeup in the state’s high school football scene.