3 takeaways from Michigan State football's tough loss to Boston College
Week 4 wasn't so kind to Michigan State football despite the Spartans hanging in there on the road and looking like the better team against Boston College for about 50 minutes.
Boston College was able to pick off Aidan Chiles for a third time in the end zone to end the game as the Spartans were trying to make a last-minute comeback afetr a go-ahead score by the Eagles. It was a tight game and Michigan State probably should have won, but it's a learning opportunity for the young Spartans, especially Chiles.
While it was a tough loss, this team will get better and learn from this. What did we learn from the Spartans' 23-19 loss at Boston College on Saturday?
1. Aidan Chiles deserves some patience
I get it, it's frustrating to see Aidan Chiles turn the ball over so much. He is a very talented player but he's forcing too much which is normal for a brand-new starting quarterback. He's going to get better.
Yes, he did just have his third multi-interception game to start the season but all of these mistakes are avoidable and it's not like he's not seeing defenders, it's the fact that he believes he can fit the ball into the tightest windows which just so happens to be into double coverage most of the time. He needs to realize that he doesn't have to make every throw. He can tuck and run (he was incredibly effective when he did that.
Plus, it's partly on the coaching staff for throwing 35 times in a monsoon in a game that Michigan State was either winning or within one score for 60 minutes.
Be patient with Chiles. He will be just fine.
2. Joe Rossi's defense has been impressive
Not many defenses can go on the road and stifle an opponent with a top-tier dual-threat quarterback and an impressive rushing attack like Boston College, but Michigan State did just that.
The Spartans gave up just 140 passing yards to Thomas Castellanos and 42 of those came on the last meaningful offensive play for the Eagles which was a touchdown pass to Lewis Bond. He was under 100 yards passing for 58 minutes of this game. That's an impressive feat for a shorthanded secondary on the road.
As for the run defense, it was relatively strong, keeping Boston College to just 3.5 yards per touch on a whopping 43 carries. Michigan State bent but didn't break and it came up with some huge stops, including one on the goal line late in the game.
This defense has been vastly improved through four weeks.
3. The Chiles-Velling connection is critical
Coming into the season, everyone was expecting the Chiles to Jack Velling connection to lead the way and really get the young quarterback going and feeling comfortable in East Lansing.
Through the first three weeks, that didn't quite happen.
In Week 4, Velling and Chiles finally connected and got things going. We saw just how well the offense can move the ball when these two are on the same page. Velling caught six passes for 77 yards and on the final Michigan State drive, it felt like those two were going to win the Spartans the game.
Keep this connection going, and the offense will explode when Nick Marsh and Jaron Glover return from injuries.