It seems like a lifetime ago, but back in late August as the Michigan State Spartans were preparing to face Florida Atlantic in the season opener, sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles made a bold prediction.

"If you bet, take the over," Chiles said.

His statement was in reference to the Vegas line for regular season wins for the Green and White, which was set at 4.5.

At the time, this statement raised a few eyebrows, first because college athletes referring to betting lines generally makes one uncomfortable. But second, it provided a preview of the confidence and moxie that Spartan fans could expect from the young transfer signal caller.

On Friday night, Chiles and company delivered on that promise from 12 weeks ago in earning their fifth win of the season, 24-17 over the Purdue Boilermakers. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't perfect, but the Spartans can check this accomplishment off the list.

But now that a fifth win has been secured, a much bigger and more important goal remains. If the Spartans can win the final game of the season next Saturday against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers, MSU will qualify to play in the first bowl game since the Peach Bowl following the 2021 season. The positive benefit of the additional practice and general momentum would be significant.

Based on the comments following the win over Purdue, Chiles and his teammates are keenly aware of both this remaining mission and what it means for MSU.

"We want six games," Chiles said. "We want to get that bowl game... I feel like we should have been in this place a long time ago. But, being able to (send) the seniors off right, to send everybody else right. It's a good feeling."

But at the same time, Chiles and his teammates realized that things did not always go smoothly on Friday night. After scoring on the first four possessions of the game, the offense got shut out in the second half and had to hold on for dear life in the final minutes to secure the victory.

"We did the little things in the first half," Chiles explained. "We still had minor mistakes in certain plays, but we fixed them, you know, flushed our mistakes, and kept pushing and it showed.

"And then second half, we came out, and I don't know what we played like. We played... I'm not gonna say what we played like, but we didn't play good."

It is safe to assume that the word Chiles was thinking of to describe the offense's play in the second half rhymes with either "fit" or "snap."

But despite the polar opposite ways that the offense played in the two halves, Chiles seems undeterred by the unevenness of his unit's performance.

"I'm never worried about the inconsistency in general," he said. "It's disappointing when you come out and you're hot and then the next half it's like you've never played football before. But it is what it is. We still won the game, and a win is a win. We're going to push from here. We're gonna improve next week."

In that hot first half for the Spartan offense, senior wide receiver Montorie Foster, Jr. was Chiles' favorite target. Foster finished with a Spartan high 59-receiving yards on four catches, including one touchdown.

Following the game, Chiles was asked about his relationship with "Old Mr. Reliable Foster," and about his touchdown catch in the front corner of the endzone to cap off MSU's first drive.

"Nobody can guard this man," Chiles said of his teammate. "It's just a trust thing... He had a step on him and I trust my guy. My guy's better than your guy. That's how it is."

Foster was also able to to give his assessment of the play which gave the Spartans the early lead.

"It was just a one-on-one matchup," Foster said. "I feel like I had to win. I went across on the back line of the end zone. So that's what I did. I just made a play."

In the second half, as the Spartans' lead dwindled from 21 points, to 14 points, and finally down just a touchdown, the tension in Spartan Stadium began to build. Foster was asked if the team could feel the mounting pressure on the sidelines.

"We didn't feel any pressure," Foster replied stoically. "I felt like it was just a matter of us executing what we had to do. It's just the little things that come down to it. We just didn't do our job, we didn't do our one-eleventh."

Foster went on to explain that the team knew what they needed to do to close out the game

"Just to do your job," he said. "It's that simple. It's nothing that we've got to over complicate. It just simply doing your job."

With just over two minutes to play in the game, the Spartans had the ball on a crucial third down with five yards to go. A first down would have secured the victory as Purdue was out of time outs. Chiles was asked to explain the discussion on the sidelines during these final plays.

"It really wasn't a conversation," he said. "It was like, 'we're gonna go win this game.' So first I was supposed to get first down on the designed QB run. I thought I did, the marker moved back so my eyes deceived me. But, it is what it is.

"It was like 'we're gonna get the first down no matter what,' Chiles continued. "We didn't plan on trying to kick a field goal. I think we just planned on winning the game with either a touchdown or a first down, and that's what we did."

Despite coming up just a few inches short of the first down (a fact that head coach Jonathan Smith told the media that the Big Ten office confirmed during the two-minute warning timeout, which is why he did not challenge the spot), Chiles was able to earn a first down on the next play, a quarterback sneak. The Spartans had thus secured a crucial "V-4-MSU."

In one of the scarier moments of the season so far, Spartan tight end Jack Velling was carted off the field in the first half after colliding with a Purdue defender as he attempted to catch a pass from Chiles.

Velling was put into a neck brace and immobilized after several minutes on the field surrounded by the Michigan State medical staff. Velling gave the crowd a "thumbs up" while lying flat on his back as the cart headed for the stadium tunnel. He was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

When Chiles was asked about the play that resulted in the injury to his fellow Oregon State transfer, he took responsibility for putting Velling in harm's way.

"I felt like I set him up," Chiles said. "I really do take the blame for that, for him being hurt. I tried to look the safety off, but the safety didn't bite. I saw Jack open, and it was a kill shot ball. That's on me... I wish I could take it back, but I truly do apologize."

Later in the press conference, coach Smith provided some more encouraging news about Velling's injury.

"I spoke to him on the phone in the locker room just a minute ago at the hospital," Smith said. "It's a thorough, cautionary-type thing. But he was in good spirits. He was able to watch the game. But I don't have anything definitive."

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