Michigan State stuns Maryland on game-ending field goal in Big Ten opener

COLLEGE PARK — One that “got away.” One they were “supposed to win.”

However you slice it for the Maryland Terrapins, it was another underachieving performance against a conference foe, this time in the earliest Big Ten game in program history.

Kicker Jonathan Kim hit field goals at the end of both halves, including the game-winner from 37 yards, and Michigan State stunned Maryland 27-24 Saturday afternoon in the first Big Ten game of the season.

Michigan State sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles carved up Maryland’s defense, finishing 24-of-39 for 363 yards and three touchdowns along with three interceptions as the Spartans (2-0) outgained the Terrapins 493 to 339.

“Our goal was to make him beat us throwing the football,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “And guess what? He did.” 

The 18-year-old Oregon State transfer played less like an inexperienced sophomore and more like a battle-tested fifth-year senior.

“People that have doubts on Aidan Chiles, they’ve got to watch the tape and watch him in upcoming years,” Maryland safety Dante Trader said. “He’s got really good arm talent. He was very precise in his throws. It was just, we’ve got to make the plays, we’ve got to be tighter in coverages.”

Michigan State wide receiver Nate Marsh was on the receiving end of eight of those passes, racking up an eye-popping 194 yards receiving and a 77-yard touchdown that tied the game late in the fourth quarter.

“It’s not as if we were surprised that we’ve got young corners and some guys that are playing their first football for us,” Locksley said. “And as I said before, it’s a matter of one, those guys growing up a little bit and learning the lessons that come along with failing like we failed today.”

“It’s not as if we were surprised that we’ve got young corners and some guys that are playing their first football for us,” Locksley said. “And as I said before, it’s a matter of one, those guys growing up a little bit and learning the lessons that come along with failing like we failed today.”

Glen Miller helped buoy a picked-on Maryland secondary with two interceptions, and Jalen Huskey added another, but it was not enough to cover the warts of a defense that allowed 7.1 yards-per-play to a Spartans team picked by many to finish last in the new 18-team Big Ten.

“It’s one of those things where we’ve got a lot of young guys playing now so it’s like, you’ve got to throw them in the fire,” Trader said. “And we got tested in the fire today, and came up on the short end of it.”

Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards finished with 253 yards on 26-of-34 passing, with two throwing and one rushing TD as well as an interception. Tai Felton was his most frequent target, recording his second-straight 100-yard receiving game and the fourth of his career, putting up 152 yards on 11 grabs and a touchdown.

“We had a lot of opportunities as an offense, a lot of things, you know, we need to learn from, we’ll be able to learn from,” Edwards said. “Not obviously the result what we wanted. Got a lot of things to clean up.”

Maryland (1-1) used a clock-eating opening drive, taking up nearly half of the first quarter, to score first. 

Edwards tried three times to hit a home run, missing Kaden Prather twice and Felton once on deep balls. But Felton picked up where he left off in Week 1, catching four balls on the drive, picking up two first downs, and finishing with a 15-yard fade pass in the near corner of the end zone for his 11th career touchdown and a 7-0 Maryland lead.

The Spartans answered immediately, with chunk plays that took a bite out of a young Maryland secondary. Montorie Foster Jr. capped the drive by outrunning cornerback Perry Fisher on a slant route for a 9-yard score to tie the game.

On the Spartans’ next drive, Miller intercepted an overthrown Chiles pass at the 45, Miller’s fourth-straight game with a pick. 

Two plays later, Edwards called his own number on a read option off the left tackle for a 9-yard TD, the eighth rushing score of his career, for a 14-7 Maryland lead in the final minute of the first quarter.

As the page turned to the second, everything ground to a halt for Maryland. The Terrapins had only two drives in the quarter — one that started from their own 5 and the other from the 35 — both ending in punts and producing only 8 passing yards. The run game wasn’t much better, only finishing with 86 yards on the afternoon after going for more than 200 last week versus Connecticut.

“It wasn’t scheme. It’s a matter of the fundamentals being executed up front,” Locksley said. “This is a Big 10 team, and we knew they play heavy-handed, a very physical group that we’ve got to win at the line of scrimmage … I mean, when you see that type of color inside, it didn’t give me a confidence to say, just line up and just knock them off the ball.”

Michigan State, meanwhile, moved the ball well and bookended the second quarter with points. Chiles delivered a beautiful rainbow ball to Jaron Glover immediately following a personal foul penalty for a 34-yard touchdown early in the stanza to tie the game.

The Spartans again moved the ball well on Maryland’s defense on the final drive of the half. Kim initially missed his 55-yard field goal attempt, but a Maryland offsides penalty allowed him to line up again and hit from 50 as Michigan State took a 17-14 lead at the half.

“Today, the kid showed us he can win playing drop-back football,” Locksley said of Chiles. “And you know, some of the times it didn’t look like we were in good coverage, and we gave up some big plays. And you know what? Those are some growing pains that I hate, that we have to go through now.”

With the sun finally breaking through, Maryland’s defense got another break.

Plays of 13, 13, 29 and 14 yards put the Terrapins defense on their heels again as Michigan State drove to the Maryland 31. Chiles misled his tight end on a ball into the end zone, throwing to the corner, not the post. Huskey was there waiting for it for his fifth career interception. The turnover would lead to a game-tying Jack Howes 45-yard field goal.

Needing a strike, Edwards found one with tight end Dylan Wade, one of a handful that rotated through that slot with starter Preston Howard out due to a knee injury. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Wade broke free on a wheel route, and Edwards found him unguarded crossing the goal line for a 28-yard score to put the Terrapins back up, 24-17.

Each side exchanged picks on their next drives, with Chiles losing the ball right into the hands of Miller, and Edwards having a tipped ball grabbed by Charles Brantley.

On fourth and 1 with less than five minutes left, Maryland tried a 41-yard field goal instead of attempting a short conversion. Howes missed right. Edwards, who was successfully utilized multiple times in short-yardage situations last season, wasn’t considered for this one.

“We had a chance to go up two scores. If I do kick it and miss it, you’re going to be saying, ’Why didn’t you go for it?’” Locksley said. “Or if I kick it and we make it?’ I mean, I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t, from that standpoint, but the smart play is to go up two possessions.”

Chiles wasted no time after the Howes miss, finding Marsh with a perfectly-placed ball for a 77-yard game-tying touchdown on the next play. Maryland punted, and the Spartans made moving the ball downfield look easy as they reached deep into Maryland territory before Kim kicked the game-winner.

“We talk about a player-led culture - it’ll be tested this week, because these guys need to get in here and get these things corrected,” Locksley said. “It’s early in the year, so again, I’m not in here telling you that the season is lost because we took a tough loss here at home against a good team, as we talked about, but I think and expect this team to respond the right way.”