EAST LANSING – With the advantage of hindsight from his play-calling debut with Michigan State football, Brian Lindgren yanked away some of the blame from his young quarterback who took it on the chin after a dicey debut.
With that said, the Spartans’ new offensive coordinator has no regrets about letting Aidan Chiles unleash the deep balls he threw early and often, even if the results were far from desirable.
“Looking back on it, for a guy in his first start, I just think Aidan would sit up here and tell you the same thing,” Lindgren said Tuesday. “If they’re going to give you some of those opportunities, let’s go take it, let’s go make the play on those deep throws.”
Chiles’ misfires were far from the singular issue that Lindgren saw when re-watching MSU’s grind of a 16-10 season-opening win over Florida Atlantic on Friday. There were plenty of things he felt contributed to the Spartans’ struggles on offense and that must get fixed this week as they open Big Ten play Saturday at Maryland (3:30 p.m./BTN).
With four new starters on the offensive line, MSU failed to run the ball consistently, averaging just 3.2 yards on 36 attempts without Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams’ 63-yard touchdown run. The Spartans managed 293 yards of total offense and went 1-for-4 in the red zone, the lone score coming on an 11-yard touchdown run by Chiles, who followed Lindgren and head coach Jonathan Smith from Oregon State in the offseason.
“It was just a disappointing performance on our end, just a lot of inconsistencies in technique, assignment, just some some errors that I felt like we made kind of early in training camp and had gotten fixed,” Lindgren said. “I don’t know. For whatever reason, first-game type deal, we just just couldn’t align it up. We were just a little bit off in a lot of different areas.”
NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP: What went wrong for Michigan State football’s offense? It starts with Aidan Chiles
Chiles took 11 deep attempts and completed just two, finishing his first game at MSU and debut collegiate start just 10 of 24 for 114 yards with a pair of interceptions. Lindgren said the game plan going into the game was for Chiles to use his tight ends more frequently than he ended up doing.
Fellow Oregon State transfer Jack Velling had just one catch for 15 yards on three targets, while sophomore Michael Masaunus, who started in a two-tight end set, caught two balls for a team-high 29 yards on one drive, both on Chiles rollouts to his right. Those were Masaunas’ only targets.
“Going into the game, I definitely wanted to have a mix of it and felt like I could get him settled down,” Lindgren said of wanting to throw more to the tight ends. “(The Owls) came out and played a little bit more man, a little bit tighter coverage to the box, than they’d kind of shown on film. And we got to some of those shot plays. … I felt like there were three (deep passes) in the first half where we had chances for explosive passes. And whether we just missed the throw, broke down in protection or he left the pocket a little bit early on one, we just weren’t able to kind of execute.
“And if you hit one or two of those, I think you give yourself a little bit more confidence that way and soften those guys up a little bit. And just it was unfortunate that we were able unable to hit it. But, yeah, I’ve got to do a better job of trying to get him in a little bit of a better rhythm early.”
Chiles also threw a goal-line interception late in the third quarter after having his first pass on the first play of the season juggled by receiver Montorie Foster and ruled an interception after review on one of those deep shots.
Still, Velling said he and his teammates’ remain high on Chiles.
“I know who he is. I know what kind of guy he is,” said Velling. “He took it the hardest I think out of anyone. And I know he’s gonna be better, you guys will see it throughout the season. Aidan Chiles is coming. He’s gonna be good. I’m excited.”
As for the run game, MSU rotated six offensive linemen, with Brandon Baldwin – the lone returning starter – rotating between left and right tackle along with Stanton Ramil on the left side backing him up and Ashton Lepo starting on the right. The issues in the deep passing game got compounded, Lindgren said, with inefficient runs putting the offense in compromised third-down positions. The Spartans converted just 3 of 13 third-down attempts.
A RUN GAME HELPS EVERYTHING: Michigan State football: Jonathan Smith seeking better efficiency in Spartans’ run game
“We were in third-and-7, third-and-8 most of the night,” Lindgren said, “which is not always fun to call.”
One call also stood out in a bad way.
Lindgren said Smith made the decision to go for the fourth-and-1 play early in the fourth quarter at the FAU 9-yard line, which resulted in running back Lynch-Adams getting stuffed for a 2-yard loss. That turnover-on-downs came after the sixth-year senior transfer had 28 yards on three carries earlier in the possession. A field goal in that spot would have extended the Spartans’ lead to two scores, but they managed to hang on and hold off the Owls’ offense in the final few minutes.
“I think we just gotta continue to just keep working,” said Lynch-Adams, who had 101 yards on nine carries in his MSU debut. “I think we got a very good relationship, being here through camp. … Everybody’s gotta do their job, everybody’s gotta do their 1-of-11 so we can eventually just keep breaking off big run after big run.”
The Terrapins are coming off a defensively dominating performance in their 50-7 opening victory at home over Connecticut. Maryland allowed 310 total yards but only 88 yards on 30 attempts on the ground (2.9 yards per carry) and held the Huskies to just 11 first downs. Coach Mike Locksley’s defense also forced three turnovers, two interceptions and a fumble.
Lindgren called the Terps “physical” and a “major challenge,” but also said the Spartans are “excited” to spend the week ironing out their issues to show they are better than what they displayed Friday.
“I felt like, I don’t want to say we play scared, but we played almost not to lose and a little bit tight, I felt like, in that first game,” he said. “We challenged our guys to have a great week of practice, trust your preparation, and then go cut it loose on Saturday. Have fun and let it ride.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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Next up: Terrapins
Matchup: Michigan State (1-0) at Maryland (1-0), Big Ten opener.
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. Saturday; SECU Stadium, College Park, Maryland.
TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WJR-AM (760).
Line: Terrapins by 81/2.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State OC admits he must do one thing to help QB Aidan Chiles
