DaytonDailyNews.com

The college football world may be awed by the way Michigan State's Javon Ringer carries the ball, but coach Mark Dantonio is even more amazed with the way Ringer carries himself.

The senior from Chaminade-Julienne is second nationally in rushing with 699 yards through four games — 17 fewer than UConn's Donald Brown — and is first in the nation in touchdowns (11).

Ringer has won the Big Ten's offensive player of the week award a record three straight times.

"He's very explosive and has all the things you look for in a great back. He's got vision, great hands, very durable, doesn't turn the ball over. But it's the intangibles that really set him apart," Dantonio said Tuesday on the Big Ten football teleconference.

"He's a very unselfish player. Playing at Chaminade under Jim Place gave him a great role model. He was coached to care about other people, and I think you see that on a daily basis. He impacts other people."

Dantonio likened Ringer to a former NFL great known for his talent and high character.

"From everything I heard about Walter Payton as a person, you sort of draw some comparisons there because of the type of worker he was," Dantonio said. "He was a great player, but there's a lot of great players. It was the type of person he was that set him apart. From everything I heard about Walter Payton, (Ringer) sort of parallels that."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or at dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.