Aidan Chiles, Michigan State offense shine in Spartans' spring showcase

The next era of Michigan State football got underway (unofficially) with the Spartans’ spring showcase on Saturday afternoon.

There are plenty of new faces in East Lansing this spring, although none may be more impactful than starting quarterback Aidan Chiles. The former Oregon State QB followed Jonathan Smith to Michigan State this past offseason and is poised to be the Spartans’ starter in 2024.

Chiles was impressive on Saturday and earned some praise from Smith in his post game press conference.

“I thought he threw it accurately, moved his feet well,” Smith said. “I think it helped that he had a little bit of run game going, Nate [Carter] had a nice carry. I think on both sides of it, we wanted to kind of [run] base package, but not show too much. This is all on TV and whatnot. But he looked comfortable, and guys made some plays for him in the passing game, which was great to see.”

Here’s one of Chiles’ big highlights from Saturday — a touchdown pass to Carter:

Aidan Chiles ➡️ Nathan Carter

This @MSU_Football connection is going to be fun to watch! 👌#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/q2VZwhAZ3O

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) April 20, 2024

Carter also had a big day on the ground. He’s set to emerge as one of the Big Ten’s best running backs in 2024 after breaking through with a 798-yard season a year ago. Here’s a long TD run by Carter from Saturday:

Nate Carter already looks healthier on this long TD run in today’s spring game.

New #MichiganState center Tanner Miller with the key block at the line, showing why he was All-PAC 12. Kris Phillips then walls off Cal Haladay to really open it up. pic.twitter.com/PzmIrAL6rD

— Justin Thind (@JustinThind) April 20, 2024

With the running game and passing game both firing on all cylinders, Chiles expressed confidence in the offense as a whole in his postgame comments.

“It’s amazing man. It’s easy because not all the pressure is on you,” Chiles said. “We have the run game, we have the pass game. We can do this … You never know when we’re going to hit you. We can hurt you with the run, with Nate, with all the backs actually. We can hurt you. And then we can hurt you in the air with all the receivers we have. All the weapons we got, it’s amazing having all these athletes on one field and just being able to protect it and being able to score whenever we want to, really.”

Michigan State will be hoping to take a big step forward offensively in 2024. Last season, as chaotic as it was for the entire program, Michigan State averaged just 4.64 yards per play, ranking 13th in the Big Ten. Michigan State has ranked in the top 5 of that category just once in the last 5 years.

Fans who want to get in on the action during the offseason can place a wager on Michigan State’s regular season win total. The Spartans’ win total at bet365 is currently set at 5.5. The same book has Michigan State listed at +12500 to win the Big Ten in 2024.