Fridays in late September are usually reserved for high school football, but Big Ten fans were treated to a heck of a game to kick off the weekend as Indiana hosted Northwestern on Friday night.
This also happened to be the first battle between Nick Marsh and Aidan Chiles since both hit the transfer portal following the 2025 season. Marsh ended up committing to the reigning national champs while Chiles took a slightly more unconventional route and wound up at Northwestern — ironically where Michigan State’s new head coach got his start.
Marsh was one of the top transfers in the portal while Chiles was overlooked after an up-and-down Michigan State career that ended with him losing his starting job to a redshirt freshman.
Both have found the right fits at Indiana and Northwestern.
And on Friday night, they battled deep into the night in the best Big Ten conference game of the young season. Although Indiana held on for the win, Chiles flashed the best parts of his game which he did every now and then at Michigan State. He showed that he might be one of the most purely talented athletes at the quarterback position in college football, passing for 293 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-29 completions. He also added a rushing touchdown.
The big stat: no turnovers.
As for Marsh, he also shined with a touchdown catch and his third straight game of 50-plus receiving yards. He had five catches for 52 yards and this score:
Throw accurate passes to Nick Marsh and prosper pic.twitter.com/SI5iNgAU6t
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) September 26, 2026
Watching these two face off in different colored uniforms was bittersweet for Spartan fans because there were extremely high hopes for both in East Lansing, but seeing them succeed validates how we all felt. Former Michigan State players just continue to shine across college football.
Aidan Chiles looks like a different quarterback
Marsh is going to be Marsh, so seeing him catch a touchdown pass in the best Big Ten game of the young 2026 season thus far was no surprise.
Seeing Chiles throw for nearly 300 yards and account for three touchdowns with no turnovers in a six-point road loss to the reigning national champs under the lights was impressive. It’s easy to root for the quarterback who never got the coaching he deserved at Michigan State and Spartan fans were cheering hard for him to pull off the massive upset on Friday night in Bloomington.
A Chiles touchdown run with five minutes left gave the Wildcats a fighting chance to pull off the upset, but the defense just couldn’t hold up late, giving up a 75-yard touchdown drive in just over three minutes.
Northwestern would eventually settle for a field goal and an unsuccessful onside kick ended the game, but Chiles showed out on a big stage and proved that he belongs in the Big Ten.
There were doubts after a tumultuous Michigan State career, but Chiles is easily one of the most talented quarterbacks in the Big Ten, he just needs consistency. With 807 passing yards, six touchdowns, no interceptions, and a completion rate of 70.6%, it’s pretty obvious that Chiles has put in the work this offseason to shake that “inconsistent” tag.
Hopefully this holds up in every week outside of the MSU game.
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