Spartans' Smith Staying Confident in Young Quarterback
The Michigan State Spartans lost a close battle to Boston College, 23-19, on Saturday night with four turnovers including three interceptions from quarterback Aidan Chiles.
Chiles finished the game completing just 48% of his passes, going 17-of-35 for 241 passing yards, three interceptions and one rushing touchdown. Several missed throws to open receivers led to stalled drives as the Spartans were just seven of 15 on third-down conversions.
Spartans coach Jonathan Smith will not stray from the dual-threat quarterback that he brought over with him from Oregon State a season ago and addressed a few of the mistakes while also giving Chiles some praise for the way he battled all game.
“Well I'm thinking about just a couple of glaring misses tonight; I don't know if it was footwork, he just overthrew a couple of them," Smith said after the loss. "I give this kid credit; he battles, we're looking for consistency out of him, at the same time, he's working with the side of the ball where we're down a few guys tonight, and he's out there battling. We were mixing lineups at the O-line and things, and if he keeps his approach he'll continue to improve. I do think he's got some dynamic play in him, I mean, there's parts of this game, I felt like he was the only piece we had on offense the way he was scrambling and going. It's a lot on his shoulders, and we have to find ways to continue to help him.”
A rainy night in Boston did not help the cause for Chiles as two of his interceptions came on inaccurate throws above or behind an intended receiver. Redshirt senior wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. was the main target with four receptions for 87 yards.
The first-year starting quarterback did show resilience with his feet as he rushed for 57 yards, including that rushing touchdown from the 1-yard line of the Eagles. When Chiles was flushed out of the pocket, he found a way to make things happen on the ground.
“[He was] pretty effective tonight; I mean he’s competitive in that,” Smith said. “He's tough to tackle, he made some huge scramble runs and then some throws on the move. So we have to keep finding ourselves offensively where we can put him in good situations.”
The Spartans will hope for sharper accuracy and better passing decisions in the coming weeks as Chiles begins to mature and settle in as a starter. The challenge only gets tougher as he will face back-to-back top-10 ranked teams in the next two weeks, No. 3 ranked Ohio State and No. 9 Oregon.
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TOM CAVANAUGH