Jonathan Smith, Aidan Chiles see progress in Michigan State's offense, but not satisfied after loss to Indiana

Michigan State lost its fourth-straight game after being defeated by the No.3-ranked and undefeated Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday. Although the 38-13 final score was the same as the previous week when the Spartans lost to UCLA in East Lansing, the effort looked much different from MSU, particularly on offense.

In Michigan State's opening drive of the game, similar to how the Spartans have looked throughout the whole season in their first drive, the team moved the ball well and found the scoreboard early. The Spartans drove down the field — 55 yards in 13 plays — and took 6:53 off of the clock to keep the ball away from Indiana's dangerous offense, but it ultimately resulted only in a field goal. Still, it was a successful drive for MSU against a tough IU defense.

MSU's defense allowed a touchdown to the Hoosiers on Indiana's opening drive, but the Spartan offense immediately responded with a touchdown drive of their own when junior quarterback Aidan Chiles connected with sophomore wide receiver Nick Marsh on a 15-yard strike.

However, it was all Indiana from there as the Michigan State defense had no answers for quarterback Fernando Mendoza  and the Hoosier offense. IU scored touchdowns on each of its first five possessions and the MSU offense ended with just the aforementioned 13 points on the scoreboard.

Regardless of how the final score looked, Chiles said that he is proud of how the MSU offense performed, but obviously is not satisfied with the result.

“I’m genuinely proud of this team and how we came and competed,” Chiles said. “Not proud of how we executed and finished the game, but at the end of the day, we came out here and played as hard as we could.” 

Chiles had a strong game, completing 27 of 33 passes (81.8%) for 243 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. He added a team-leading 48 rushing yards as well (adjusted for loss yardage after sacks), including a 64-yard scamper.