EAST LANSING – Free Press sports writer Chris Solari checks out three things to watch as Michigan State football prepares to host Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 17, after losing in overtime to Illinois, 38-37, in Week 6 at Spartan Stadium.
Aidan Chiles reunion
Aidan Chiles arrived at MSU with a bevy of hope and hype. He left as a fan scapegoat amid another coaching change.
The fourth-year senior is now the Wildcats’ starting quarterback and thriving in his new home in the Windy City. Northwestern is two wins away from making a bowl game for the third time in coach David Braun’s four seasons, and Chiles is a large part of this season’s success.
Chiles is completing 71.4% of his passes for 1,172 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions and has added six rushing
TDs. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound native of Long Beach, California, threw for 272 yards (17-for-23) with three touchdowns and ran for another score in the Wildcats’ 45-14 victory over Ball State on Saturday.
Chiles transferred from Oregon State after the 2023 season to follow his coach with the Beavers, Jonathan Smith. As a Spartan, Chiles made 20 starts with an 8-12 record, becoming the 18th quarterback in MSU history to eclipse 3,000 yards (3,807) while completing 61% of his throws with 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. He also ran for nine touchdowns but was sacked 51 times in his MSU starts.
It is the third former starting QB the Spartans will have faced in their first seven games. Illinois’ Katin Houser, who played at MSU from 2022-23 before Chiles’ arrival, suffered a hand injury in Saturday’s third quarter and is expected to miss significant time for the Illini. The Spartans on Sept. 12 beat Eastern Michigan’s Noah Kim, who was at MSU from 2020-23.
Purple Pat
To those who remember him as an All-American and College Football Hall of Famer as a player, it still remains somewhat strange to see MSU coach Pat Fitzgerald in green and white.
Saturday will mark the first time the former Northwestern linebacker will face his alma mater, which fired him in the summer of 2022. Fitzgerald played for the Wildcats from 1993-96, becoming the first player in college football history to win both the Nagurski and Bednarik trophies as the nation’s top defensive player in back-to-back years (1995 and 1996). He returned as an assistant from 2001-05 and then took over as coach after Randy Walker’s death just before the 2006 season.
In 17 seasons, Fitzgerald went 110-101 overall and 65-76 in conference play while reaching the league title game twice. However, Northwestern won just two Big Ten games in his final two seasons, and he has lost his first three with MSU.
Brains and Braun
Fitzgerald unknowingly hired his eventual replacement when David Braun arrived in Evanston as defensive coordinator in January 2023. He took over when Fitzgerald was fired that summer, taking Northwestern from 1-11 the previous year to 8-5 and a bowl berth in his debut and winning Big Ten coach of the year.
All of Braun’s experience prior to joining the Wildcats was at the Division II and FCS levels, and the 41-year-old had never been a head coach prior to taking over for Fitzgerald. He is 23-20 overall and 12-17 in Big Ten play.
Fast facts
Matchup: Michigan State (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) vs Northwestern (4-1, 1-1)
Kickoff: Noon, Saturday, Oct. 17; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.
TV/radio: Peacock (streaming), NBC Sports Network; WJR-AM (760).
Line: Wildcats by 12½.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 3 things to know about Michigan State football vs Northwestern
