Michigan State football and Aidan Chiles carved up Iowa, 32-20

EAST LANSING — Jonathan Kim had a field day with Michigan State football homecoming.

A field goal day, that is. The Spartans' defense took care of the rest.

Oh, and Aidan Chiles and Crime? Still a work in progress, but they have shown progress in their work.

Kim, a sixth-year senior, set a single-game school record with six field goals Saturday night as MSU ended a three-game losing streak with a 32-20 victory over Iowa at Spartan Stadium.

“Really happy for our guys,” MSU coach Jonathan Smith said. “These guys have been working and done a good job, I thought, handling the bye week. We really had two weeks to prepare for this, and I think it showed there. Just one team won. You talk about all three. Phases into it. contribute.”

That sets up a Week 9 rivalry game when the Spartans (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) travel to Ann Arbor to take on No. 22 Michigan (Big Ten Network) at 7:30 p.m. The Wolverines (4-3, 2-2) dropped a 21-7 road game at No. 21 Illinois on Saturday, their second straight loss.

This will be the first time MSU has faced off since 2008, and the first game since 2005 when the Spartans won and the Wolverines lost.

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MSU never punted vs. Iowa, scoring eight of nine (minus a final knee), with Chiles' interception being the only failure in the first half.

The Spartans rushed for 212 yards — Kyron Lynch-Adams led with 86 — and Chiles passed for 51 yards rushing for 256 and a score. Nick Marsh had eight catches for 113 yards and Montori Foster Jr. had five catches for 100 with a touchdown.

“After the bye week, we came out with energy,” Chiles said. “We knew what we had to do. And our goal is to go 6-0 (for the rest of the season), but that's one week. So we did it, we won the bye week and came out. A win this week.”

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MSU entered as a 6½-point underdog while on a three-game losing skid, but had the best team against former Michigan transfer quarterback Cade McNamara and the Hawkeyes (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten).

But Kim scored the only point of the first half.

He connected on field goals of 42 and 43 yards in the first quarter, 36 and 29 in the second quarter and 55 and 46 in the fourth quarter. His sixth field goal broke the school record of five in a game held by Paul Edinger (twice) and John Langelhe.

The Spartans' defense bottled up until Iowa star Caleb Johnson scored on a run with 7:22 left, after Kim's sixth field goal, to make it 25-20. Johnson, who entered as the Big Ten's leading rusher and second in the nation at 156.2 yards per game, finished with 98 yards on 14 carries for the Hawkeyes. The Spartans held Iowa to 283 total yards, but the Hawkeyes scored three touchdowns in the second half after a first-half shutout.

Nate Carter scored on a 1-yard run with 2:03 left to put MSU up two.

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Michigan State played a dominant first half vs. Iowa

For a team that prides itself on winning its bye week, MSU proved to be mostly statistically dominant in the first half.

Chiles opened the game by leading the Spartans on drives of 52 and 64 yards, settling for a pair of field goals from 42 and 43 yards. MSU's defense forced the Hokies' terrible run game and standout Caleb Johnson into 3-and-outs on their first two drives.

Chiles' ninth interception of the season ended the Spartans' third drive near midfield, but the defense buckled down again and stopped Iowa on three plays. The Hokies had 17 yards on their first nine plays, and kicker Drew Stevens blasted a 58-yard attempt with plenty of distance that sailed wide right to give MSU the ball at its own 40.

The Spartans moved the ball, then Chiles was knocked down after losing his helmet and tight end Jake Welling was moved early and took a penalty when backup QB Tommy Schuster arrived. Kim finished the red-zone trip with a 36-yarder. MSU leads 9-0.

Iowa managed to move the ball 32 yards on its next possession, but McNamara threw a pair of incomplete passes to call for a punt.

Chiles took advantage again, leading the Spartans to the Hawkeyes 6. Planned to go on fourth-and-2, right guard Brandon Baldwin was flagged for a false start and Kim booted his fourth field goal of the half from 29 yards out. Out for a 12-0 lead.

MSU rushed the ball on its final possession, reaching the Iowa 37, but Kim missed wide left from 55 yards as time expired in the half.

The Spartans had a one-way edge of 250-58 yards in the first half, including 132-30 on the ground, and 15 first downs to Iowa's two. Chiles was 10-for-16 passing for 132 yards, and MSU owned a 21:13-to-8:47 advantage in time of possession.

Lots of touchdowns in the second half

The Hokies came out of halftime with a statement drive, marching 58 yards in eight plays after a 42-yard kickoff return by Caden Weitzen to open the third quarter. McNamara threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Reese Vander Gee to keep the drive alive on third-and-4 after the two connected on a 17-yard pass.

Chiles quickly led MSU down the field for its first touchdown, including a 26-yard run in which he avoided shimmy pressure and powered his way to a critical first down to preserve the possession. His perfect, 18-yard touchdown spiral off play-action on a corner route to a wide open Foster put MSU up 19-7 with 4:34 left.

Iowa scored another touchdown, but Kim tied the school record with a 55-yard boom for a 22-14 edge. Then safety Nickai Martinez picked off McNamara two plays later and Kim tied the score with a 46-yarder after MSU's Jaron Glover drew an offensive pass interference penalty that negated Aziah Johnson's 17-yard touchdown catch.

“I'm happy that I was able to go out and help this team win,” said Kim, who is now 15 of 16 on field goal attempts this season. “It's an honor to set this record.”

After Caleb Johnson's long run pulled Iowa within 25-20, MSU began a nine-play, 75-yard drive that included three throws to Marsh for 42 total yards and an 8-yard toss to Carter on third-and-3. was included. His 1-yard plunge with 2:03 left.

The defense held from there, ending a final attempt to make it close again with an Iowa illegal touch penalty near the goal line on fourth down.

“I think we fueled each other,” said Martinez, who had six tackles to go with an interception. “So if we improve one side of the ball, we're able to improve the other side of the ball. Whether it's good or bad, we're all in this together. We all have one goal, and that's to win football games.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @Crysolari.

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