Jonathan Smith brought his new crew from Michigan State out to Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon to take on his old rival and second Top-10 opponent in as many weeks and fared just about as well, or poorly, as he did last week against Ohio State. The 31-10 loss to the Ducks is the Spartans third loss in a row after starting the season with three victories. With a bye week coming up it might be time for Smith to change horses and sit his Sophomore QB Aiden Chiles who followed him through the portal from Oregon State. In his six starts he has thrown for 1,212 yard with a completion percentage of under 60% and has consistently turned the ball over having thrown three more interceptions than TD’s to go along with four fumbles, including a red zone turnover in this one—not his first. I was little surprised that Smith decided to go with Chiles—even though he was in line to become the starter at Oregon State had Smith stayed—once Tommy Schuster came through the portal to spend his last year of eligibility with the Spartans. Schuster, from North Dakota where he is their all-time leading passer, over the last two seasons alone threw for just 34 yards shy of 5,000 yards and 39 TD’s for the Fighting Hawks as well as rushed for another five scores. In very limited duty as a backup he is completing over 75% of his throws without any picks.
For the first four minutes and fifty-seven seconds it looked as though the Spartans might be able to take it to the Ducks. They won the toss, deferred, and then held Oregon to a three-and-out after which they drove the ball 65 yards down the field to a first and goal at the Oregon 2 yard line. But the magic ended there as their Sophomore QB Aiden Chiles kept the ball and ran it only to lose control—his second red zone fumble in as many weeks and the Michigan State’s fourth in total. The Spartans wouldn’t get that close to the goal line again in spite of two Oregon interceptions—one in the end zone—until the 4th Qtr when they finally ran one in. But by then they were down 31-7. After holding the Ducks to a three-and-out they’d put another three up on the board on a Jonathan Kim 42 yard field goal to make it 31-10 with just 25 seconds left to go.
For the Ducks, Senior QB Dillon Gabriel, connected on 20-of-32 for 257 yards, 2 TD’s and 2 picks to go along with 22 yards rushing and another score. But it was Junior RB Jordan James who dominated on the ground, carrying the ball 24 times for 166 yards and the other rushing TD—averaging just a tick under 7 yards a carry. Oregon led in first downs, 25-16; dominated in rushing yards, 213-59; total yards, 477-250 and were able to convert their third downs at a 50% clip compared to a miserable 18% for the Spartans. Up next for the Ducks is a matchup we would have only seen in a bowl game in the past as they stay home to take on No. 3 Ohio State.