Whenever you pick up a big win early in the season, you're optimistic that it could be a sign of things to come. So when Jonathan Smith's Michigan State football team beat Boston College in a double-overtime thriller on Saturday night, fans bought in even more.
While the toughest battles are still on the horizon, Michigan State won a game against a really solid Boston College team that scored 66 points in its opener, and the Spartans overcame some poor defensive play to pick up the win.
Obviously, the offense was the star of the show on Saturday.
But, just like last week, Smith honored players from both sides of the ball during a team meeting on Sunday by naming his five players of the game.
On offense, it was Aidan Chiles. Defensively, it was Alex VanSumeren. In the trenches, it was Conner Moore. And on special teams, he couldn't pick just one, so it was Alante Brown and Martin Connington (should have also been Ryan Eckley, in my opinion).
Players of the Game in our victory over Boston College! Go Green! pic.twitter.com/eWmVQEwX4N
— Jonathan Smith (@Coach_Smith) September 7, 2025
The offensive player of the game was an easy pick. Smith said in the team meeting that Chiles put the team on his back, at times, and really gave it his all on Saturday. If Chiles doesn't play as well as he did, Michigan State doesn't win that game.
Defensively, VanSumeren was plugging some holes, but his play didn't really show up much in the box score as he recorded just one tackle.
In the trenches, Moore helped pave the way for over 150 team rushing yards.
And Smith was very complimentary of Brown who he called a leader and praised him for his big returns. Martin Connington hit his first two career field goals in clutch situations, including a 50-yarder.
Hard to argue with coach's picks, sans the Eckley omission.