Michigan State snapped a three-game losing streak with their homecoming win over Iowa. Fresh off the bye week, the Spartans looked like a drastically different team from the past few weeks, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Against a strong defense, quarterback Aidan Chiles threw for 256 yards and one touchdown, with his ninth interception this season being the lone blemish in his performance (we’ll get into that in a bit). The Spartans also rushed for over 200 yards as a team, and the defense continued to look like a strong unit.

Overall, it’s a performance the Spartans should be proud of and use as a stepping stone for the remainder of the season. Let’s look at some of the takeaways from the win.

Aidan Chiles’ performance on Saturday cannot be praised enough. While it may not have been his best performance statistically (likely his 363 yards and three touchdowns against Maryland, minus the two interceptions), he showed significant progress from the last few weeks, especially having played a defense that is still a strength for the Hawkeyes.

Coming into the game, the Hawkeyes were 24th in the FBS in scoring defense, 29th in the country in total defense, and 18th in the country in rushing defense.

Chiles was adjusting pre-snap constantly on Saturday, and his decision-making and leadership on the field Saturday helped the Spartans move the ball very efficiently. They smashed the Hawkeyes in the run game, totaling 212 yards on the ground against a unit that had been allowing 96.3 yards per game before Saturday's game, and as previously noted, Chiles threw for 256 yards and a touchdown. Michigan State also didn't punt a single time.

That’s not to say it was a perfect performance. Aidan Chiles did throw another interception, but fortunately, it didn’t cost the Spartans.

Finishing drives in the red zone continued to be an issue this week, but at least they ended in points and a new school record for field goals (6) made in one game for Jonathan Kim. Michigan State was also called for seven penalties for 55 yards, and five were on the offense. The Spartans still have some cleaning up to do in those areas, but, overall, the performance is a flash of the talent and potential on the offense.

Michigan State’s defense has covertly been pretty good this season, and I don’t think we’re talking about it enough.

I mentioned it in my takeaways from the first half of the season (which you can read here), but despite two blowout losses as part of that three-game losing streak, Michigan State sits at 29th in the FBS in total defense (323.1 yards per game), tied for 39th in scoring defense (20.86 yards per game), 53rd in rushing defense (131.1 yards per game), and 30th in passing yards allowed (192 yards per game). Those are all significantly ahead of where Michigan State finished last season (389.3 total yards allowed per game, 237.8 passing yards allowed per game, 151.5 rushing yards allowed per game and 28.3 points allowed per game).

Saturday, they did a great job holding a VERY talented running back in Kaleb Johnson (the second-ranked rusher in the country right now) in check. Outside of his big 75-yard touchdown run, he recorded 13 carries for just 23 yards. I’m not sure about you, but I’d say that’s a success.

With another run-heavy offense on the clock against Michigan next week, the Spartans will certainly have their work cut out for them, but the performance against Iowa should be enough to at least instill some confidence heading into Ann Arbor.

Another point I mentioned in last week’s takeaways: it would be easy to throw in the towel after a three-game losing streak that included two blowout losses. While those games showed the team still has some time before contending for conference titles, Saturday’s win could be a turning point for the team this season, and I think it showed the team isn’t going to give up on the year and their goal of playing in a bowl game.

There are still some difficult games left on the schedule. While they’re not the national title contenders they were at this point last year, Michigan is good enough to still win at home if the Spartans aren’t careful. Indiana and a trip to Illinois could be trouble.

But the Spartans have five games left and need two wins to get back to a bowl game in their first season under Jonathan Smith. If they can continue to build on some of the strong performances we’ve seen, and clean up mistakes, I wouldn’t be surprised if Michigan State can find a way to even win one of the tough games left on the schedule.

There’s still plenty of football left and plenty to play for. Saturday’s win makes me think the team can make a run at a bowl game, maybe even comfortably.

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