Spartans see positives after being smacked by unbeaten Hoosiers

Bloomington, Ind. — It’s hard to be happy about a multi-touchdown loss on the road, in the rain, to continue a four-game losing streak. And yet as Michigan State digested Saturday night’s lopsided result at Memorial Stadium, the duality of its performance made a bad loss easier to stomach.

Not a whole lot went right for Michigan State in a 38-13 loss to Indiana. Its offense couldn’t turn yardage into points, and its defense let up five straight touchdowns into the second half. And yet against the No. 3 team in the country — as nearly four touchdown underdogs — the performance left Michigan State encouraged, if not sated.

“I'm not satisfied, but I'm appreciative of how we played,” quarterback Aidan Chiles said.

Chiles threw for 243 yards and a touchdown while completing 27 of 33 passes, including 20 straight completions to bridge the first and second halves. He also ran for 89 yards, trimmed by four sacks for a loss of 41, to lead a rushing game that mustered just 74 yards by game’s end.

Chiles said he practiced all week, though his coach Jonathan Smith said it was in a limited capacity early on. Still, the Spartans enjoyed having him back, especially as he led scoring drives on the first two possessions.

BOX SCORE: No. 3 Indiana 38, Michigan State 13

Michigan State took a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal by Martin Connington, then retook the lead 10-7 after an Indiana touchdown thanks to 84 yards of offense from Chiles on a 12-play, 75-yard drive with hidden yardage from a holding penalty. Receiver Nick Marsh caught his fifth touchdown of the season — the 10th Chiles has thrown this year — on a 15-yard crosser.

Michigan State (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) led with 9:22 left in the first half. Against Indiana’s vaunted defense — ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense — it was an admirable performance.

The problem is admirable didn’t equate to winning. And that’s the fine line that Michigan State leaves this game pondering.

Much of the problems for the Spartans came on defense, where Indiana scored touchdowns on its first five drives. Chiles’ Indiana counterpart, Fernando Mendoza, threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns while leading his offense to a 464-367 lead in total yardage.

Hoosiers receiver Elijah Sarratt caught a pair of touchdowns, including a 24-yarder to take a 14-10 lead in the second quarter after a sequence of missed tackles by the MSU defense.

“That's a good football team,” MSU head coach Jonathan Smith said. “Margin for error against a good football team is pretty small.”

Kaelon Black ran a 29-yard touchdown right through the middle of the defense to make it 21-10 by halftime, a pending blowout but not without its share of woes.

It’d take some extra time for the teams to take the field again, a lightning delay pushing back the resumption, and the rain sent a good chunk of 55,165 fans back home. Those who stayed saw Omar Cooper Jr. haul in a 48-yard pass for another touchdown just 1 minute, 51 seconds into the half.

Down 28-10, this felt like a moment for Michigan State to prove itself or wilt. Yet the result just proved middling. A 10-play drive went just 43 yards, hampered by that bad running game. Connington’s 50-yard try shanked wide right, though he’d end the game with a 34-yarder in the pouring rain with 33 seconds left to redeem himself.

“That was all about Martin,” Smith said, later noting that these late fall games can require a kicker to deliver in poor weather.

With Michigan State still down three scores, its defense continued to stumble. Mendoza laid a beautifully placed ball to Sarratt for a 27-yard touchdown that freshman cornerback Aydan West hardly had a chance on.

Up 35-10 with 3 minutes, 55 seconds to play in the third quarter, Indiana (7-0, 4-0) pulled away with its defense. That final Connington field goal proved to be the only points it let up in the second half, though Michigan State found 174 yards of offense mostly from Chiles’ heroics.

For the ninth time in 14 Power Four games coached, Smith’s Spartans were outscored in the second half — the only time they weren't was in Week 2 against Boston College, which is now 1-6.

Starting safety Malik Spencer added to a lengthy injury list in the fourth quarter, but the defense finally got a stop. The reason might have had more to do with Indiana coach Curt Cignetti’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-4 from MSU’s 7-yard line. Whether prompted by his nearly $93 million contract extension or his M.O. to run up the score, Cignetti’s call didn’t work. Mendoza threw his final pass of the game incomplete, missing E.J. Williams Jr. on a toe-tap on the left side.

“When we're out there, we’re always gonna play hard,” defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren said. “I mean, that's the price of admission, just to get through the doors is going hard. So we did some good things out there. We’ve got some things we gotta clean up still. But we'll be back and we'll watch the tape, we'll correct it, and we'll get back to it.”

Chiles’ own final play came as he desperately fought to get a score. The drive nearly derailed in his own end, Chiles running for 64 yards on a keeper facing third-and-2 from his own 16. That drive stalled out, too, Smith went for it on fourth-and-13, and Chiles almost immediately took a sack from edge rusher Stephen Daley. Backup Alessio Milivojevic led the final drive in relief.

“I think we executed really well until we got to the red zone,” Chiles said, though his team went 3-for-4 from there.

Indiana’s final score came from a Nico Radicic field goal for 31 yards right after the two-minute timeout, though traded timeouts by both sides extended the break further.

Saturday’s performance wasn’t an upset, and the blowout score was one that most expected out of this matchup. Michigan State pushed back in its effort, but the result still proved it has a ways to go amid the longest losing streak of Smith’s tenure.

Michigan State will look to snap it in the 118th meeting in its rivalry against Michigan next Saturday. The Spartans led at halftime but lost last year’s meeting 24-17 in Ann Arbor. Kickoff time and broadcast information are both to be determined.

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

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