Three takeaways from Madeline Kenney of The Detroit News following Michigan State’s 16-10 win to Florida Atlantic in Week 1.

Aidan Chiles a work In progress

Jonathan Smith has a lot of faith in what Aidan Chiles can be one day, but Chiles is far from a finished product. That was evident during his Spartan debut on Friday.

Anyone who expected an 18-year-old making his first collegiate start to have a mistake-free showing with a new team was delusional.

Chiles had an up-and-down performance in the Spartans’ lackluster 16-10 win. He completed only 10 his 24 passes for 114 yards and threw two interceptions. He did have an 11-yard score, but the team in general didn’t move the ball well as Michigan State recorded only 293 yards of total offense.

After the game, Chiles was the first player in the post-game press conference. His frustration with himself and the way he played was obvious. And he took accountability for all of it: The overthrown passes, misreads and miscommunication that hampered the Spartans. And he promised to learn from it and be better next time out.

It’s not unusual for a quarterback to take the blame for a team’s bad offensive showing. But the way Chiles talked, the clear frustration on his face that replaced his normally happy, care-free persona, and the authenticity in the way he spoke showed just how much he cares about getting this right. He didn’t look to place blame anywhere but on his own shoulders.

Chiles was eager to get back to the drawing board this week.

“Just improve,” he said. “Go do everything with intent. Go into practice with a chip on the shoulder. … I’m happy with the win, not happy with how I performed.”

Chiles, who doesn’t turn 19 for another few weeks, is in an ideal position for development. This season is transitional period for the Spartans, so the bar of success is relatively low.

It’s only one game and Chiles’ long-term outlook is still positive.

Questions for the receivers

While Chiles accepted the full blame for the offensive woes, any observer could see it wasn’t all his fault. Yes, some of his throws were off the mark, but there were several catchable ones that were dropped.

Give Florida Atlantic some credit. The Owls were being pesty and were solid with most of their defensive assignments. But the game could’ve played out very differently if guys did a better job at pulling the ball in.

I’d be curious to have seen how the rest of Chiles’ night had gone if Florida Atlantic hadn’t made a good play and Montorie Foster Jr. had brought in a deep ball that was a touch overthrown but still catchable on the opening play of the game.

Foster, who led the Spartans in receiving in 2023, had a tough night. Not only did he fail to grab a catch that resulted in an interception on the first play of the game, but he also fumbled a short reception in the red zone and finished with only three catches for 23 yards. Fellow returning starter Jaron Glover also had a rough showing, recording zero catches on five targets.

Freshman Nick Marsh had only one reception for 11 yards in his college debut. It’ll be interesting to see whether the Spartans look to go to him more often in the coming weeks.

Defense promising

It seemed almost a little poetic that the first points scored in the Jonathan Smith era were done by the defense.

In the first quarter, D’Quan Douse clawed his way past Florida Atlantic’s offensive line before wrapping his arms around the Owls quarterback and pulling him down like a rag doll in the end zone for a safety.

It was one of Michigan State’s seven sacks on the night.

In past seasons when the offense would struggle, the Spartans’ defense would also wane as the game went along. But that wasn’t the case Friday. In fact, the unit, organized by defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, saved the win for the Spartans and helped them close the game out.

Michigan State held the Owls to 248 yards and constantly pestered quarterback Cam Fancher. As a result, he completed only 12 of his 25 passes for 116 yards and one score. He was also picked off twice, with Angelo Grose and Nikai Martinez getting interceptions.

Maryland will face a tougher offense next week at Maryland, with Athan Kaliakmanis posing more of a downfield threat than Fancher did. But Friday, aside from the penalties, was an aggressive, good start for the defense.

The main thing moving forward will be cleaning up some of those mistakes that led to flags and tightening up some of coverage details.

“We take a lot of pride in scoring on defense,” Khris Bogle said. “At the end of the day, we just have to go out there an execute.”