A year ago around this time, Michigan State offensive coordinator Jay Johnson and head coach Jonathan Smith made the switch from Aidan Chiles to Alessio Milivojevic. It was a move that was supposed to give the offense a spark, but Chiles also probably wasn’t 100 percent health-wise.
That replacement lasted the remainder of the season and Chiles never threw another pass for Michigan State, Johnson, or Smith.
On Saturday, however, Chiles got a chance to face — and beat — his former offensive coordinator who many argued did his growth as a passer no justice at Michigan State. Chiles and Northwestern went to Eugene to face a brand-new Oregon offense led by Johnson and his attempt at a “revenge” (not really because there’s likely no bad blood) over his former offensive coordinator fell just short despite him playing really well.
What was even more surprising was the fact that Johnson called a heck of a game with his QB1 out for the remainder of the season. Oregon had 431 yards of total offense and scored 34 points in an “upset” win of Northwestern.
Chiles looked like a star, passing for 281 yards and a touchdown and leading all rushers with 93 yards and another score. He did all he could to give the Wildcats a chance and they fell short, 34-26, in a thriller.
We’ll see if Chiles ever gets another crack at his former offensive coordinator, but he didn’t win many games with Johnson calling his plays and now he’s 0-1 against him.
Both ex-Spartans impressed on Saturday evening.
Michigan State has watched ex-players excel all season
From Armorion Smith to Nick Marsh, Michigan State has watched ex-players play really well all season and Chiles has been a prime example.
Some ex-Spartans have had some rough luck like Katin Houser who suffered a serious injury but others like Chiles, Nick Marsh, and Sam Leavitt have looked like stars in their new homes. It’s been bittersweet because they obviously didn’t have the best experiences in East Lansing, but it would have been nice to see them perform like that while at Michigan State.
And now Johnson is calling plays for a preseason national title contender and he’s winning games over Top 25 teams while posting over 400 yards of total offense and 34 points?
What gives?
It’s now more apparent than ever: Michigan State fans can’t have nice things — ever.
Add us as a preferred source on Google