Michigan State football missed a chance in a 24-17 loss to the Wolverines

Drives continue to stall in the red zone. Costly penalties at unnecessary moments. A dirty onside kick. A target emission.

A series of self-inflicted mistakes proved costly for Michigan State football. And Michigan took full advantage to extend its rivalry win streak to three straight.

The Spartans collectively dominated Saturday night at Michigan Stadium, but the Wolverines capitalized on every MSU breakdown en route to a 24-17 victory.

“We didn't finish the way we wanted to,” first-year MSU coach Jonathan Smith said after his recap of the rivalry. “Battle of the group. But really in all three episodes, there were things we didn't do well enough to win tonight. And that's why it's frustrating and frustrating.”

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MSU had its final chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, but Aidan Chiles' fourth-down rollout throw to Aziah Johnson broke up in the end zone, allowing the Wolverines to run out the clock. The Spartans also wasted a scoring chance on their first drive of the game, and Chiles committed a costly fumble late in the first half. That turnover led to a UM field goal that gave the Wolverines the lead for good after the Spartans dominated most of the first two quarters.

“We've got to find a way, when we drive the ball out there, to end up with points, hopefully touchdowns,” said junior running back Nate Carter, who ran for a personal MSU-high 118 yards and a touchdown. While adding 56 receiving yards. “Yes, it hurts, especially when we have so much success. And at the end of the day, we shoot ourselves in the foot a lot.”

After five straight night games, MSU (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) next hosts sizzling hot and undefeated Indiana (8-0, 5-0), which topped Washington, 31-17, on Saturday. It will be a 3:30 pm kickoff against the 13th-ranked Hoosiers with no telecast — streaming on Peacock, NBC's only online service — next Saturday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.

Michigan (5-3, 2-2) will host No. 1 Oregon next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (CBS).

The Spartans outgained the Wolverines 352-265, including 163-119 on the ground. However, UM didn't commit a turnover and wasn't flagged for a penalty while MSU had six for 35 yards and Chiles lost his fourth fumble of the season for his 11th overall turnover. The sophomore quarterback finished 17-for-23 for 189 yards and a touchdown.

An electric start for MSU turned ugly late in the half

MSU's offense came out and pounded the Wolverines in the face early, often and again for the first 25 minutes.

On the opening possession of the game, the Spartans hit UM with five different ball carriers and racked up 68 yards on 14 plays. Chiles opened things up with his legs and hit Carter for a 26-yard screen pass before the drive was tipped near the goal line.

MSU lined up for fourth-and-goal at the 2, but Chiles committed a delay of play penalty that backed the Spartans up 5 yards and forced them to attempt a 25-yard field-goal. But kicker Jonathan Kim, who had hit a school record six in a win over Iowa a week earlier, booted it high and right to end an 8-minute, 8-second drive without a point.

The Spartans' defense stymied UM for a three-and-out, and Chiles and Co. went back to work with the same blueprint. This time, Carter ran behind a block from right guard Brandon Baldwin on fourth-and-1 for a 2-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. The Spartans had 135 total yards and a 93-1 rushing advantage to build a 7-0 lead.

But Michigan's defense cranked up the pressure and penetration from there, and MSU managed just 15 yards in the second quarter. And Wolverines quarterback Davis Warren exploited coverage gaffes in the middle of MSU's defense to find a short passing rhythm with tight end Colson Loveland. The Wolverines scored on a 10-yard TD connection with 29 seconds left in the half but had trouble snapping and missed the PAT. The Spartans appeared to be heading into the locker room with the lead.

But after Carter broke off a 15-yard run on the first play after the kickoff, MSU became vulnerable. Chiles looked downfield and looked away from the pressure and didn't realize the pressure coming from his back. Defensive end Josiah Stewart got a strip sack, the ball bounced toward the UM sideline, and Kenneth Grant made a defensive tackle at MSU's 37 with 14 ticks left.

The Wolverines took a 9–7 lead when Dominic Zavada kicked a 37-yard field goal just before time expired. They closed the MSU yardage edge to 160-116 through two quarters, though the Spartans had a 119-37 rushing advantage.

Just prior to UM's TD drive, MSU lost starting long snapper Caden Schickel to an apparent left leg injury while running to tackle a punt early in the second quarter. He was sent back to the locker room with a towel on his head.

A poor finish to the half adds to the second half MSU ugliness

The Wolverines nearly replicated how the Spartans started the game, driving the second half kickoff 75 yards on 11 plays with 5:11 to go. They punched it into the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown run by Alex Orji after the backup quarterback ran 29 yards on that drive. The Wolverines converted three third down possessions, including a scoring run that made it 16-7 with 9:49 left in the third quarter.

A special teams gaffe, Sam Edwards called a fair catch when Alan Brown fielded the ball, forced Chiles and the offense to start an all-important countering drive at the Spartans 5. Chiles put them away with a 30-yard throw. A third-and-4 to Montori Foster extended the possession before stalling at the UM 28. Kim booted a 46-yard field goal off a near-perfect snap from Edwards, who replaced Schickel, to pull MSU within 3 at 16-10. :45 to go in the third.

Kim then tries an onside kick, with his coverage unit stuttering and peeking at him as they roll out. That negated the attempt, and the Spartans also jumped offsides before UM recovered on MSU's side of the field to set up the Wolverines for a drive that went nowhere.

But UM continued to convert on third down, mixing Orzi's runs with Warren throws and mixing its play-calling with trick plays. An Orji run at the end of the third quarter and a midtime review led to MSU linebacker Jordan Turner being ejected and he will miss the first half against Indiana per Big Ten rules.

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Four plays later, Donovan Edwards took a toss from Warren early in the fourth quarter and, with MSU's linebackers scrambling, threw a perfect pass to a wide-open Loveland for a 23-yard score with 13:20 to play. Warren found Loveland wide open for the 2-point conversion to extend UM's lead to 24-10.

But the Spartans responded with a methodical drive that mirrored their early-game dominance, with two third-down conversions on the ground by Carter and Lynch-Adams. Facing third-and-12 at the Wolverines' 20, Chiles hit Nick Marsh on an in-route, and with a stutter-step cutback to the 10, rattled two UM defenders and rolled into the end zone. Another long snapper, Zach Carson-Wentz, set up Kim's extra point that made it 24-17 with 6:12 left.

MSU's defense forced a three-out and a bad punt set Chiles up near midfield. He immediately took an intentional grounding penalty, backing the Spartans up 15 yards, but hit Jake Welling to recover it. Chiles then evaded pressure and hit Carter on third-and-10 and regained his balance by running back 30 yards into Michigan territory. MSU then received a false start penalty before Chiles' last-gasp throw was batted on the ground.

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

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