EAST LANSING – Aidan Chiles sees it. Montorie Foster Jr. does, too.
Michigan State football’s offense sits on the cusp of a breakout. Even after entering the bye week on a three-game losing streak.
“We are there,” Foster, a senior wide receiver, said Monday. “It’s just we gotta tighten up.”
The Spartans (3-3, 1-2) took a bit of a break last week to rest their bodies and refresh their minds at the midpoint of the season. They will conclude their two-week pause when they enter the back half of their schedule Saturday against Iowa (4-2, 2-1). Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Spartan Stadium (NBC).
Once again, even though Foster and tight ends coach Brian Wozniak described the offensive problems as all-encompassing, the focus will be on Chiles and his development over the final six games of the season.
The sophomore, who followed head coach Jonathan Smith and other offensive staffers from Oregon State in the offseason, flashed his potential and showed his youthful inexperience in his first time as a starting quarterback in college.
The roller-coaster first few weeks had pedestrian performances in victories over Florida Atlantic and Prairie View A&M along with a stellar comeback victory at Maryland. It also included some costly mistakes against Boston College and outright struggles in primetime against national behemoths in No. 5 Ohio State and No. 2 Oregon.
Chiles completed 56.6% of his 152 passes for 1,212 yards and five touchdowns in the Spartans’ first six games, adding 115 rushing yards and three scores on the ground on 45 attempts. His 14.1 yards per completion rank 17th in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
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However, the 6-foot-3, 217-pound native of Southern California also has lost 74 yards on 13 sacks, continuing to learn when to stay in the pocket or abandon it to run as pressure arrives. Chiles also committed 11 of the Spartans’ 14 turnovers, throwing eight interceptions and losing three fumbles, two of those halting red-zone opportunities against both the Buckeyes and Ducks.
“I was fortunate enough in the first three games to get away with my mistakes and still win games. And then it came back to bite us when we actually played against better competition,” Chiles said Monday. “We came out, and we knew what we had to do. But Boston College, two plays, we win that game. It’s two plays. Come out (against) Ohio State, we turned the ball over, we had three drives in the red zone and didn’t score. That hurts us. Then come out (against) Oregon, fumble on the 1-yard line, 2-yard line. That hurts.
“So things like that — it’s like we’re one play away from doing all the big things that we know we can do. And it’s really just one play away from having the momentum to do what we can do.”
Chiles said correcting his turnover problem remains “the biggest thing” he needs to improve on over the final half dozen games to lead MSU back to a bowl game or more. But he also pointed to times when he gets “happy feet and try to take off too early” and run from pressure mixed in with his good throws while maintaining his poise in the pocket.
“Overall, I feel like I’ve grown as a quarterback, especially mentally,” he said. “But like I’ve been saying since spring, it has to be put together. We just gotta bring it all together and figure out how to compete with these guys and go out there and win games.”
Foster said he has seen the growth and development from his young quarterback throughout his first six college starts, and particularly during the bye week.
“I feel like he’s more of a leader,” Foster said. “He’s really just trying to put his foot down and trying to get things right and get things corrected. I feel like that’s the biggest change I’ve seen from him, just taking that next step as a quarterback.”
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Wozniak, who played at Wisconsin and was part of Smith’s Oregon State staff that recruited Chiles, said offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren and the staff reviewed every play of every game so far during the bye. They concluded, “We’ve left a lot of stuff out there,” Wozniak said.
“As a unit, there’s been opportunities that we’ve had not only to put the ball in the end zone, but extend drives,” he said. “And we just left opportunities out there, whether it be a drop, whether it be a turnover, whether it be a miscue of a route or whatever it may be. There’s just so much we’ve left out there opportunity-wise.
“And we gotta capitalize on that, especially in this conference, going against good teams like Iowa.”
That won’t be easy, even if the Hawkeyes aren’t ranked and appear to be a notch below Ohio State and Oregon.
Coach Kirk Ferentz’s defense remains among the best in the nation after last year’s elite showing offset the offensive issues. Iowa is ranked 29th nationally this season in total defense (316.0 yards allowed), 24th in points allowed (17.7 per game) and 18th in run defense (96.3 yards per game). Iowa does allow 219.7 passing yards a game, which ranks 76th.
And though he realizes it all isn’t on his broad shoulders and cannon of a right arm, Chiles knows he holds the keys to unlocking more production from MSU’s offense.
“I feel like no matter how good or how bad I play, I feel like I can always do better,” he said. “And there’s a lot that I can do better right now. There’s a lot that I need to improve on as we’ve been watching. It’s just little things.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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Next game
Matchup: Michigan State (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) vs. Iowa (4-2, 2-1).
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Saturday; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.
TV/radio: NBC, WJIM-AM (1240), WMMQ-FM (94.9)
Line: Hawkeyes by 6 1/2.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Aidan Chiles’ next step: Michigan State football QB must cut turnovers
