Michigan State's Aidan Chiles Gives Honest Confession About Week 1
Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles and the Spartan offense had quite the turnaround in Week 2 against Maryland.
In Week 1, the offense produced just 114 yards in the air, as Chiles threw two costly interceptions and missed some key throws that could have turned into explosive plays.
While Chiles threw three interceptions against the Terrapins, he finished with 363 passing yards, while leading some crucial drives down the stretch.
Chiles, who was down on himself following the season opener against Florida Atlantic, admitted something that takes courage to confess.
"I didn't play scared [today]," Chiles said after the Spartans' win over Maryland. "Last week, I basically lied to myself, told myself I wasn't scared. I was. It is what it is. My first start, I don't see it that way, but I mean, I was scared, I know.
"And then today, i came out [with the] mentality of take a deep breath and go hunt. That's my thing. I tell it to Coach [Jonathan] Smith all the time. That's our thing, we say, 'Go hunt.' And today, we went out and we hunted. So, I was more comfortable just simply because I got to play free and didn't think too much about where I was going, just playing football."
Chiles had played just his first game as a starting quarterback in Week 1, his first game with a brand-new team.
"If you watch the film back, I played like a scared quarterback," he said. " ... I didn't feel scared today. I can confidently say that. I came out and made mistakes, but I came back and flushed it and got it back, so it is what it is."
Smith was pleased with his young quarterback's play on Saturday.
"We got more explosive offensively, he [Chiles] threw some strikes down the field," Smith said after the game. "Obviously, Nick Marsh comes on the stage in a big, big way. We got to clean up a lot on offense, Aidan included. I think a couple of those interceptions are just his footwork. He's got to throw it on proper balance; he was just inaccurate on a couple of them. And again, there's some learning curve there. But the kid is resilient. Aidan kept on coming back, and again, we had the ball at the end of the game, he's the quarterback, drove us down the field and set it up for Jonathan Kim."
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