It could not have been easy to be Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles on Friday.

Put yourself in his shoes for just a moment.

You’re 18-years old. You’re starting your first career game at the most important position on the field in front of 75,000 fans and millions of people following along at home. All eyes are on you. If you make a mistake, there are impactful consequences.

Yeah, with NIL these days, he makes some money, but no amount of money minimizes the pressure and expectation of being a Big Ten starting quarterback at 18 years old.

Chiles isn’t shying away from that, though. He actually seems to embrace it. His confidence probably has a lot to do with that, which was perfectly encapsulated in his “take the over” comment recently.

With confidence comes attention.

When you don’t perform well and you have all that attention and pressure on your shoulders, people naturally want answers.

On Friday night, after a 10-for-24 passing night and a win for the Spartans, Chiles could have gone to the podium and talked about how it was his first start, that he’s only 18-years old and that he was thrilled to get a win. He technically wouldn’t have been wrong if he had said that.

Instead, Chiles showed something that he hasn’t had to show yet in East Lansing, at least in the public eye – accountability.

“It’s me, I’m taking full responsibility for everything that happened today,” Chiles said after the 16-10 win over FAU. “You always want to come out and play football and do what you got to do. I feel like I tried to do that, didn’t do what I’m used to doing. I play football for a living and didn’t come out and perform at my best today. It is what it is. I take full responsibility for everything.”

Chiles isn’t trying to lower the expectation bar. He is holding himself to that same expectation level that others are.

“It was self-inflicted,” Chiles said. “It was my fault. I take full responsibility.”

Chiles knows he didn’t perform well. It wasn’t the game that Chiles dreamt of for his first career start. He made mistakes, a lot of them. He cost his team some valuable points. In another world, that game could have ended differently. Those missed opportunities could have resulted in a loss.

Chiles finished the game with a 42% completion percentage and he threw for 114 yards and had two interceptions. He especially struggled on passes that traveled 15-plus yards through the air (2-for-11).

“I knew what I was supposed to do, I knew it,” Chiles added. “I’m missing (routes) that I’ve been throwing forever. I’m missing checks that I’ve seen every day. I go against one of the best defenses in the country (in practice), that’s how I feel. And I didn’t do what I was supposed to do.”

Chiles and the Spartans will watch the film this week and try to learn from their mistakes, whether they like it or not.

“We’re going to go watch film and we’re probably all going to hate it,” he said. “We’re gonna go in there with disgust. We don’t want to go watch that. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do. We didn’t do what we know we can do.”

Fortunately for Chiles, he has a chance to redeem himself next Saturday when Michigan State plays its first Big Ten game of the season at Maryland.

So, what does Chiles need to do before then to get ready for the Terrapins?

“Just improve,” he said. “Go and do everything with intent. Go into practice with a chip on your shoulder and go win next week.”

The bottom line from Friday is simple, Michigan State won the game, but Chiles struggled. Chiles would be the first person to tell you that.

“I’m happy with the win, not happy with how I performed,” he said.

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