CHAMPAIGN, ILL. &gt;&gt; Needing two wins in the next three games to make a bowl game, Michigan State had a chance to get ahead with Saturday’s visit to Illinois, the toughest opponent left on its schedule.<br><br>Instead, it put itself under even more pressure as the season nears its end.<br><br>Though Michigan State (4-6, 2-5 Big Ten) made things interesting in the second half, Illinois (7-3, 4-3) proved too much to handle in a 38-16 defeat. Illinois’ aerial attack posed a big problem for a depleted MSU secondary, and its bend-don’t-break defense left the Spartans running in place. The loss marked Michigan State’s sixth in the past seven games.<br><br>Even if Michigan State’s defense got off on the right foot with an opening three and-out, the rest of the game was a little rougher.<br><br>Illinois opened the scoring first as quarterback Luke Altmyer hit his leading receiver with a 57-yard touchdown to receiver Pat Bryant, who nearly had another long bomb in the second quarter on a missed overthrow.<br><br>Altmyer finished the day throwing 19-for-32 and 231 yards, throwing another touchdown to Zakhari Franklin in the second quarter. The Spartans’ injuries in the secondary made for a difficult day defending the pass, and Altmyer took advantage.<br><br>The Spartans could play that game, too — at least they could early on. Receiver Aziah Johnson beat Illinois’ star cornerback, Xavier Scott, and hauled in a 52-yard touchdown.<br><br>Johnson finished with three catches for 70 yards on the day, a career high in yardage.<br><br>On the ensuing extra point, a rare miss by kicker Jonathan Kim kept Illinois up a point, though it stretched that lead the next drive with a 13-play, 75-yard drive capped off by running back Josh McCray stiff-arming his way into the end zone on an 11-yard run. Illinois scored one more touchdown in the first half with Franklin’s toe-tap touchdown.<br><br>A Kim field goal from 38 yards out put Michigan State down 21-9 at the half.<br><br>It wasn’t really a bad first half for the Spartans, per se. It’s just that Michigan State did a lot of running in place.<br><br>It also did a lot of running around. Chiles, with little protection in the pocket, had to improvise on a number of busted plays due to poor line play in front of him. He made a few decent pickups with his<br><br>legs and threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns on 23- for-40 passing. But in such a critical game, Chiles was thrust into chaos that made his job difficult.<br><br>Michigan State needed to change momentum to start the second half — to start converting — and it did so in a big way. Driving down to the 5-yard line, the Spartans stared down fourthand-2 on their first drive of the second half. Going for the touchdown, Chiles got it by hitting running back Nate Carter for the score.<br><br>The score changed momentum.<br><br>But if a win was ever within reach, Michigan State didn’t seize it.<br><br>After an Illinois field goal stretched the lead to eight, both teams traded threeand-outs into the fourth quarter. And when McCray leapt into the end zone for a touchdown halfway through the final frame that made it 31-16, he all but sealed MSU’s fate.<br><br>Looking for a response, Michigan State tried to put together a drive with seven minutes on the clock, but Chiles had too little time in the pocket to put together big plays. He took two big sacks on third and fourth down on his team’s final drive. McCray scored another 1-yard touchdown on the next drive, making a comeback all but impossible.<br><br>Knocking off Illinois at home — especially on the Fighting Illini’s senior day, no less — was always going to be tough for the Spartans.<br><br>But now, the pressure is on. If Michigan State wants to reach its goal of a bowl game, it must win both its next two games against Purdue and Rutgers.<br><br>While those teams aren’t to be confused with juggernauts, losing in Champaign means the Spartans can’t afford any slip-ups.