Four turnovers hampered Michigan State and head coach Jonathan Smith, as he suffered his first loss at the helm against Boston College by a final score of 23-19 on Saturday night.
“We’ve got to get better there (with the turnovers),” Smith said postgame. “We’ve got to get better in the run game, staying away from negative yardage. We had a couple missed opportunities. We had [wide receiver] Montorie [Foster Jr.] a couple times and missed him. Those things changed the game.”
Read the full game recap here.
Three of the four turnovers were interceptions by sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles, who now has thrown seven picks on the season. The last interception happened while he was looking for a double-covered Foster Jr. in the end zone on first-and-10 with the ball on Boston College’s 36-yard line. Boston College defensive back Max Tucker picked it off with 36 seconds remaining in the game.
MSU has turned the ball over at least three times in each of its three games against FBS competition, with Chiles having three-turnover games in both games against Power Four conference competition (the other instance being at Maryland).
“We did not play well enough to win the game,” Smith said. “We’ve got plenty to clean up. But, I do like this team. I do like the work ethic. We’ll be back to work tomorrow and try to get better because we need to.”
The other turnover was a fumble by running back Kay’ron Lynch-Adams on the opening kickoff of the second half, which led to a BC field goal. If that was not disastrous enough, Chiles threw his second interception of the game on the first play of the ensuing drive. The Eagles took the lead on the next play, meaning MSU had started the half with the ball and had seen a seven-point lead turn into a three-point deficit after running just one offensive play.
“These games are going to have some ebbs and flows, and we’ve got to clean up some things,” Smith said. “Again, Kay’ron [Lynch-Adams is] a good player. I like that he’s on our kickoff return. We’ve got to keep the ball locked. He takes a good shot, the elements aren’t great out there. Then, obviously, offensively we can’t turn the thing over.”
Lost in the turnover madness is the fact that Michigan State’s struggles in the red zone truly reared its head in this game. The Spartans got inside the BC 20-yard line three times and only reached the end zone once. The other two drives stalled inside the 10-yard line and resulted in Jonathan Kim field goals. Following Saturday’s game, MSU has had just six touchdowns in 15 red zone drives.
“Finishing in the red zone with some touchdowns would be huge and we just didn’t get it done tonight,” Smith said.
Ironically enough, what was MSU’s longest drive of the season in terms of plays, yards and time of possession might have been the difference. Early in the fourth quarter, the Spartans stuffed the Eagles on the goal line, thanks to an outstanding play by linebacker Jordan Hall, getting the ball back on its own 2-yard line. Michigan State went 18 plays and 89 yards in 9:24 to get as far as the BC 9-yard line for just three points.
In response, Boston College went 75 yards in six plays, taking the lead on a 42-yard throw from quarterback Thomas Castellanos to wide receiver Lewis Bond. Chiles then threw his third pick from BC’s 36-yard line four plays into the attempted game-winning drive.
The injuries in the wide receivers room are also noteworthy. Jaron Glover missed his second consecutive game and Nick Marsh (true freshman) and Antonio Gates Jr. were also out.
“We weren’t certain on where we were going to be earlier in the week," Smith said about the wide receivers. "Later on, we could just tell that a few of them were not going to be able to go on Saturday, and then you start adjusting a little bit — you saw a little bit more of 12 [personnel] and a couple of tight ends out there — but we weren’t certain until really Thursday night.”
Smith says that none of the injuries to Marsh, Gates Jr., or Glover are expected to be long-term. As far as Marsh and Glover go, Smith hopes they can return “sooner than later, and I’m not talking November.”
Add in the rainy conditions, and things are not set up real well for a 19-year-old sophomore quarterback to succeed.
“I give this kid credit,” Smith said about Chiles. “He battles. We’re looking for consistency out of him. At the same time, he’s working with a side of the ball where we’re down a few guys tonight and he’s out there battling.”
It really did show at times. Chiles ran for a career-high 57 yards alongside MSU’s lone touchdown. He also had three carries that went for more than 10 yards. He made plays throughout the game.
“There’s parts of this game where I felt that he was the only piece we had on offense, the way he was scrambling and going,” Smith said about Chiles. “It’s a lot on his shoulders, and we’ve got to find ways to continue to help him. If he continues his approach, he’ll continue to improve.”
Simply put, it was a very winnable game that Michigan State let get away. That’s always going to be the mood after being minus-three in the turnover battle and only losing by four points. From here, it only gets more difficult. In its next six games, MSU will face four ranked teams: No. 3 Ohio State, No. 9 Oregon, No. 18 Michigan and No. 24 Illinois. The two unranked teams, Iowa and Indiana, each received votes in last week’s Associated Press Poll and picked up wins Saturday.
Michigan State’s next game against Ohio State will be at home, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time, and it will stream exclusively on Peacock. The following week, Smith visits his old rival in Eugene on Friday, Oct. 4 in what will be a 9 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff against the Ducks before the Spartans reach their first bye week of the 2024 season.
Join the discussion on this article in our premium forums by clicking here.
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, and Instagram.
For video content, including our Red Cedar Radar podcast, find us on YouTube and consider subscribing.