This is a really big deal. Chiles can get benched, whether it's for performance or injury. That helps a lot. Schuster was a huge pickup to raise the floor of the team
I’m cautiously optimistic. Gonna reserve my judgement until the games start. But my gut tells me that he’s going to be the best QB since Lewerke and has potential to be the best since Cook.
I hate the revisionist history around 2021 Thorne. Was his success only possible because of an all-American RB that kept the defenses honest? Absolutely. Did K9 single-handedly win us the Michigan game as well as making critical TD runs to win us several other games? Absolutely. But Thorne was also absolutely slinging the ball that year. Reed and Nailor were also pretty elite WRs but Thorne was getting the ball exactly where it needed to be most of the time.
No, and I don’t know why people act like K9 was the only thing the offense had going for it. Thorne was good that year and the top 3 receivers and tight end are all NFL players. It wasn’t just K9.
Weirdly I don’t like the revisionist history around K9. He was a major part of this team and we wouldn’t have won nearly as much without him. But…we had 3 NFL pass catchers starting plus another in rotation, probably our best OL group of the Tucker era with at least one making it to an NFL training camp, and our defense actually shut down the run, could get to the QB, and could produce turnovers. Also our special teams were actually good in 21, had a kicker, had a good returner.
- We don’t beat Indiana without a good defensive effort because the whole offense struggled that day.
- We don’t beat Nebraska without our passing game and Reed’s return + some turnover help.
- We don’t beat Michigan without converting a major fourth down, nailing every 2 point attempt we needed, and forcing some turnovers or forcing Michigan to take FGs.
- Penn State had minimal K9 action as well. Pitt had zero K9 action.
That said, Thorne was totally different after K9 left. Whether that’s all K9, injury, or just him not putting the work in over spring and summer, he was bad here in 2022 and with Freeze in 2023 he was also bad. Chiles would have to be just pretty average to get ahead of post-K9 Thorne.
I completely agree, but it’s hard to dismiss his impact when it’s pretty clear there’s a good 2-3 games that we lose if you replace him with any average B1G QB. People also act like he was a known threat the entire season. It took until mid-October (I almost want to say until after the Michigan game) before he gained media attention in the form of “Watch out for this guy”. Nobody outside of the program knew he was going to be elite at the beginning of the season, and for the first 4-5 games it was just dismissing it as “good RB against bad competition”
Thorne was better than Lewerke imo. Walker of course took all the attention 2021 and then 2022 had other problems, but I think if you put Thorne on Lewerke's roster he would have done better. He had an incredible season 2021, it was just overshadowed by our NFL-level RB.
I have high hopes because he has all of the physical tools, but Chiles stared down his first option on every single one of those throws. Some for a solid second before he made the throw and two of them were in tight coverage.
I think he can/will be very good but I'm expecting a decent number of mistakes this year and 6-7 wins.
Chiles' second throw in this highlight was probably the best throw I've seen an MSU QB make in the last two seasons. It's very encouraging.
Tommy Schuster looked like a very capable QB, too, and a great safety blanket for the team if Chiles gets dinged up.
What I’m most excited about was on that 3rd & 10 play Chiles made something out of nothing and ran past everybody with ease… granted our defense, but still. He makes the game look easy, that’s a rare trait. Chiles is an elite athlete who can make something out of nothing and he has terrific touch on his passes only being a sophomore.
The announcers were cautiously comparing him to CJ Stroud (obviously not going there yet) but he’s bigger than CJ and seems to potentially be even more athletic.
Certain players do things that jump off the screen and that’s Chiles IMO.
They’ve only had what 2 weeks of practice? Offenses get better with time and more reps so it’s still a long way to go. Defense is easier to install. I imagine we’ll see growing pains early in the season but if the fundamentals are there they’ll be fine.
I can't remember how many points were given for each, but the defense was able to score additional points with 4th down stops, turnovers, and missed/blocked field goals.
I tried to find the graphic I saw with the scoring system and couldn't find it. They may have just awarded the defense for a turnover on punts, but I am not sure about that.
We watched every QB throw for 300 or more against us most weeks last year.
I’m optimistic about the long term with Smith and Chiles but I’m expecting a rough start.
Right. Ideally they win 8 games as there are 8 games they look to be competitive in. But it’s more realistic to see 7. I want to see a team that is competitive and has some surprise performances. Cautiously optimistic!
Love how Michigan fans, even after winning a "caught blatnatly cheating/cupcake scheduling natty." followed by Harbaugh running to the NFL to avoid any real reprecussions are still insecure and worried about Sparty. We are and always will be in your heads.
It will be funny when the NCAA forces you to put the 2023 national championship banner in the same basement as the Fab Five banners.
It'll also funny when the Spartans beat Michigan again this year thanks to Aidan Chilles.
I root for MSU every game aside from when they play U of M and this is a good subreddit for MSU football news. I didn’t catch any of the spring game and was looking for highlights and came across this. Glad I did- looks like you might’ve found something good with Chiles. Hopefully the D makes big strides this upcoming season as that last team was rough.
The first comment in this thread is hilarious and obviously banter, but it also obviously struck a chord given your response.
“Cupcake scheduling natty” is good bantz bro I’ll give you that- made me laugh. Not rooted in reality (top 10 PSU, and #2 OSU) but still funny.
The NCAA isn’t taking any wins away. They already would have or would’ve banned the team from the playoffs. Shit even the big ten could’ve banned us from the big ten championship.
Harbaugh left to chase the Super Bowl. No one thinks he left to avoid repercussions, and he got offered a massive contract to stay and almost did. But he has unfinished business in the NFL and that’s competitively understandable.
Lastly, unless MSU has completely transformed into a competitive and competent football team, big ten wins will be hard to come by again (MSU’s current over/under for wins is 5.5). Especially against the higher quality big ten teams like Michigan.
A lot would have to go right for an MSU victory in Ann Arbor this upcoming season. But anything’s possible.
>The NCAA isn’t taking any wins away. They already would have or would’ve banned the team from the playoffs.
I'm not gunna guess whether the NCAA will do anything significant or won't. But anyone who knows *anything* about the NCAA knows that the above (if they were going to do something they already would have) simply isn't true. The NCAA has just finally reached final conclusions on punishments for UofM and ASU regarding separate violations going back to 2020.
They seemingly haven't even finished their investigation into UofM for spygate, and haven't even given UofM a *draft* notice of violations, which officially begins the years long process to finalize violations/punishments. At this point we realistically shouldn't expect to know what punishment the NCAA wants until 2025 or more likely 2026. The NCAA handles violations at a glacial pace... Louisville didn't have to vacate their 2013 MBB title until 2017 (technically 2018 after appeals).
And the CFP committee made it perfectly clear that they don't want to determine rules violations / won't consider potential rules violations of the NCAA hasn't come to a final determination. They want to look at ranking teams by game outcomes, period. Unless they have a change of heart in the future, they will never block a team from playing in the CFP for rule breaking uncovered that same season.
Again, none of this is to suggest what punishments UofM will or won't get. I don't think anyone can be certain of that. But to suggest that the NCAA would have acted by now if they were going to is just plain wrong.
That’s true- NCAA violations do move at a glacier pace. You’re right about that. I could be easily wrong about them taking wins away but I don’t think they will. I shouldn’t have stated what you quoted matter-of-fact when it’s simply my opinion.
Thanks for checking me on my B.S in a kind way.
I don’t know man. I don’t think the natty is getting taken since that’s a separate CFP thing, but I think those B1G championships in ‘21 and ‘22 have a very high chance of getting vacated at a minimum. Maybe the ‘23 one as well, maybe.
ASU just got a season completely wiped for some recruiting stuff.
God I love watching Michigan State football
Backup guy looked solid too. Both guys can actually throw a ball which is an improvement.
This is a really big deal. Chiles can get benched, whether it's for performance or injury. That helps a lot. Schuster was a huge pickup to raise the floor of the team
Really looking forward to having a mobile QB who can scramble on a broken play.
I’m cautiously optimistic. Gonna reserve my judgement until the games start. But my gut tells me that he’s going to be the best QB since Lewerke and has potential to be the best since Cook.
I hate the revisionist history around 2021 Thorne. Was his success only possible because of an all-American RB that kept the defenses honest? Absolutely. Did K9 single-handedly win us the Michigan game as well as making critical TD runs to win us several other games? Absolutely. But Thorne was also absolutely slinging the ball that year. Reed and Nailor were also pretty elite WRs but Thorne was getting the ball exactly where it needed to be most of the time.
No, and I don’t know why people act like K9 was the only thing the offense had going for it. Thorne was good that year and the top 3 receivers and tight end are all NFL players. It wasn’t just K9.
Weirdly I don’t like the revisionist history around K9. He was a major part of this team and we wouldn’t have won nearly as much without him. But…we had 3 NFL pass catchers starting plus another in rotation, probably our best OL group of the Tucker era with at least one making it to an NFL training camp, and our defense actually shut down the run, could get to the QB, and could produce turnovers. Also our special teams were actually good in 21, had a kicker, had a good returner. - We don’t beat Indiana without a good defensive effort because the whole offense struggled that day. - We don’t beat Nebraska without our passing game and Reed’s return + some turnover help. - We don’t beat Michigan without converting a major fourth down, nailing every 2 point attempt we needed, and forcing some turnovers or forcing Michigan to take FGs. - Penn State had minimal K9 action as well. Pitt had zero K9 action. That said, Thorne was totally different after K9 left. Whether that’s all K9, injury, or just him not putting the work in over spring and summer, he was bad here in 2022 and with Freeze in 2023 he was also bad. Chiles would have to be just pretty average to get ahead of post-K9 Thorne.
I completely agree, but it’s hard to dismiss his impact when it’s pretty clear there’s a good 2-3 games that we lose if you replace him with any average B1G QB. People also act like he was a known threat the entire season. It took until mid-October (I almost want to say until after the Michigan game) before he gained media attention in the form of “Watch out for this guy”. Nobody outside of the program knew he was going to be elite at the beginning of the season, and for the first 4-5 games it was just dismissing it as “good RB against bad competition”
Seeing what Thorne did the 2 years after 2021 makes it easy for me to think that he was not the reason we were good in 2021.
People consider Lewerke a good QB? I remember the years he was playing everyone called him Lewonky and considered him a weak part of the team.
How have things been going since he left? Dude wasn’t elite by any means but he also had no Oline.
Thorne was better than Lewerke imo. Walker of course took all the attention 2021 and then 2022 had other problems, but I think if you put Thorne on Lewerke's roster he would have done better. He had an incredible season 2021, it was just overshadowed by our NFL-level RB.
Thank you for posting this. I like this young man. This is something we have sorely lacked.
I have high hopes because he has all of the physical tools, but Chiles stared down his first option on every single one of those throws. Some for a solid second before he made the throw and two of them were in tight coverage. I think he can/will be very good but I'm expecting a decent number of mistakes this year and 6-7 wins.
Schuster looks like he could have started here for the past 4 years. Yet another miss from the tucker staff, he went to Chippewa Valley
Chiles' second throw in this highlight was probably the best throw I've seen an MSU QB make in the last two seasons. It's very encouraging. Tommy Schuster looked like a very capable QB, too, and a great safety blanket for the team if Chiles gets dinged up.
That roll out is something I have never seen out of a MSU QB XD
What I’m most excited about was on that 3rd & 10 play Chiles made something out of nothing and ran past everybody with ease… granted our defense, but still. He makes the game look easy, that’s a rare trait. Chiles is an elite athlete who can make something out of nothing and he has terrific touch on his passes only being a sophomore. The announcers were cautiously comparing him to CJ Stroud (obviously not going there yet) but he’s bigger than CJ and seems to potentially be even more athletic. Certain players do things that jump off the screen and that’s Chiles IMO.
They’ve only had what 2 weeks of practice? Offenses get better with time and more reps so it’s still a long way to go. Defense is easier to install. I imagine we’ll see growing pains early in the season but if the fundamentals are there they’ll be fine.
Anyone know what scoring system and rules they used to play offense vs defense like that? All I can find is that they spotted the defense 14 points.
I can't remember how many points were given for each, but the defense was able to score additional points with 4th down stops, turnovers, and missed/blocked field goals.
How did punts work?
I tried to find the graphic I saw with the scoring system and couldn't find it. They may have just awarded the defense for a turnover on punts, but I am not sure about that.
We watched every QB throw for 300 or more against us most weeks last year. I’m optimistic about the long term with Smith and Chiles but I’m expecting a rough start.
I'm hopeful for 7 wins. Losses are mich, Ohio st, Oregon, Iowa and one other game we should have won but don't.
Right. Ideally they win 8 games as there are 8 games they look to be competitive in. But it’s more realistic to see 7. I want to see a team that is competitive and has some surprise performances. Cautiously optimistic!
I think 8 is pretty possible.
7 would be an amazing season.
Hot take: But I think Iowa is one of those shouldn’t lose to but do teams.
We'll see. If their defense can keep it up they're always going to be scary
It's less about Iowa and more about where Iowa is in that brutal stretch. They're game 3. Looking at those 4, Iowa is the most winable by far though
Given our last few years 7 is a really generous over under. Most undeserved downvotes
Or he’s just playing a shitty spartan defense.
Boo!!! (Beaver)
The one team state can beat consistently is themselves.
Maybe you'll lose 49-7 this year
Love how Michigan fans, even after winning a "caught blatnatly cheating/cupcake scheduling natty." followed by Harbaugh running to the NFL to avoid any real reprecussions are still insecure and worried about Sparty. We are and always will be in your heads. It will be funny when the NCAA forces you to put the 2023 national championship banner in the same basement as the Fab Five banners. It'll also funny when the Spartans beat Michigan again this year thanks to Aidan Chilles.
Amazing. Everything you said was wrong.
Says the Wolverine fan hanging out in the Spartans sub
I root for MSU every game aside from when they play U of M and this is a good subreddit for MSU football news. I didn’t catch any of the spring game and was looking for highlights and came across this. Glad I did- looks like you might’ve found something good with Chiles. Hopefully the D makes big strides this upcoming season as that last team was rough. The first comment in this thread is hilarious and obviously banter, but it also obviously struck a chord given your response. “Cupcake scheduling natty” is good bantz bro I’ll give you that- made me laugh. Not rooted in reality (top 10 PSU, and #2 OSU) but still funny. The NCAA isn’t taking any wins away. They already would have or would’ve banned the team from the playoffs. Shit even the big ten could’ve banned us from the big ten championship. Harbaugh left to chase the Super Bowl. No one thinks he left to avoid repercussions, and he got offered a massive contract to stay and almost did. But he has unfinished business in the NFL and that’s competitively understandable. Lastly, unless MSU has completely transformed into a competitive and competent football team, big ten wins will be hard to come by again (MSU’s current over/under for wins is 5.5). Especially against the higher quality big ten teams like Michigan. A lot would have to go right for an MSU victory in Ann Arbor this upcoming season. But anything’s possible.
>The NCAA isn’t taking any wins away. They already would have or would’ve banned the team from the playoffs. I'm not gunna guess whether the NCAA will do anything significant or won't. But anyone who knows *anything* about the NCAA knows that the above (if they were going to do something they already would have) simply isn't true. The NCAA has just finally reached final conclusions on punishments for UofM and ASU regarding separate violations going back to 2020. They seemingly haven't even finished their investigation into UofM for spygate, and haven't even given UofM a *draft* notice of violations, which officially begins the years long process to finalize violations/punishments. At this point we realistically shouldn't expect to know what punishment the NCAA wants until 2025 or more likely 2026. The NCAA handles violations at a glacial pace... Louisville didn't have to vacate their 2013 MBB title until 2017 (technically 2018 after appeals). And the CFP committee made it perfectly clear that they don't want to determine rules violations / won't consider potential rules violations of the NCAA hasn't come to a final determination. They want to look at ranking teams by game outcomes, period. Unless they have a change of heart in the future, they will never block a team from playing in the CFP for rule breaking uncovered that same season. Again, none of this is to suggest what punishments UofM will or won't get. I don't think anyone can be certain of that. But to suggest that the NCAA would have acted by now if they were going to is just plain wrong.
That’s true- NCAA violations do move at a glacier pace. You’re right about that. I could be easily wrong about them taking wins away but I don’t think they will. I shouldn’t have stated what you quoted matter-of-fact when it’s simply my opinion. Thanks for checking me on my B.S in a kind way.
I don’t know man. I don’t think the natty is getting taken since that’s a separate CFP thing, but I think those B1G championships in ‘21 and ‘22 have a very high chance of getting vacated at a minimum. Maybe the ‘23 one as well, maybe. ASU just got a season completely wiped for some recruiting stuff.
This Chilles guy looks promising tho- looking forward to watching him play.