Michigan State football winners and losers: Aidan Chiles, Nick Marsh ready to launch

EAST LANSING — Here are the Michigan State football players who helped or hurt their stock in the Spartans’ 42-40 double-overtime win over Boston College on Saturday, Sept. 6.

Winners

Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles, left, celebrates his touchdown pass with Alante Brown during the second quarter in the game against Boston College on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.

QB Aidan Chiles

The junior matured in front of a national audience by returning from an apparent injury to throw a touchdown in the first overtime, then run for the tying TD and toss the winning 2-point pass in the second OT. Chiles (19-for-29, 231 yards, career-high four TD passes) now has gone five games without throwing an interception, a span of more than 319 minutes and 55 seconds since his last one, late in the second quarter against Indiana on Nov. 2, 2024. And as MSU’s rushing offense has improved with Makhi Frazier, it has allowed Chiles to pick and choose his spots when to use his legs – he had 67 rushing yards on eight carries (before taking out 28 yards on four sacks).

WR Nick Marsh

The sophomore demanded coaches give him the ball during halftime, and he responded with a field-stretching 41-yard touchdown catch from Chiles to open the third quarter and set the tone for the second half. Marsh finished with 68 receiving yards on five catches (from a team-high 11 targets), and he also opened the scoring with an 11-yard TD on which he dragged a defender on his back the final 8 yards and powered through to the goal line in traffic.

S Armorion Smith

Smith’s story of perseverance after losing his mother to cancer last year is widely known, but the senior made his presence felt on the field Saturday night. Starting in place of injured Nikai Martinez, Smith registered a career-best eight tackles while zooming all over Spartan Stadium to make plays. That included pouncing on a first-quarter BC fumble in the end zone.

KR Alante Brown

Two years after getting knocked out on a kickoff during the 2023 opener, Brown put together his best performance as a Spartan. His 37-yard return early in the second quarter gave the Spartans strong field position near midfield that they squandered. But later in the quarter, the senior from Chicago broke off a 63-yarder – the longest MSU kickoff return since R.J. Shelton’s 90-yard TD against Penn State in 2014 – to set up a tying touchdown. That would be his last chance, as BC started kicking away from Brown.

K Martin Connington

The redshirt freshman missed most of preseason camp and did not dress in the opener against Western Michigan. Connington returned Saturday, though, and showed plenty of leg strength and poise, delivering a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter and then a 39-yarder with 4:08 to play in regulation that put the Spartans ahead briefly.

Losers

Boston College quarterback Dylan Lonergan (9) throws a pass against Michigan State at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Saturday, September 6, 2025.

Pass coverage

With Martinez out, the Spartans went down another safety early in the game when Malik Spencer left in the first quarter and missed nearly a full 15 minutes of action. The depth defenders who replaced him, Texas Tech transfer Devynn Cromwell and sophomore Justin Denson, were attacked by Eagles QB Dylan Lonergan, who threw for 390 yards and four touchdowns. Cornerback play beyond Malcom Bell was shaky, with Joshua Eaton rotating with Chance Rucker and freshman Ayden West to try and fix it, to little avail. MSU’s linebackers were also exposed in coverage on multiple occasions, as tight end Jeremiah Franklin and running back Turbo Richard combined for 15 catches, 150 yards and two TDs.

Pass rush

It didn’t help the secondary that the Spartans continue to struggle to generate any pressure along the defensive line. After getting four sacks against WMU, MSU failed to get a sack for the seventh time in 14 games under defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. That allowed Lonergan plenty of time to pick apart the defense, though the Spartans did a strong job against the run in holding BC to 2.7 yards a carry.

LT Stanton Ramil

It’s hard to remember the mammoth 6-foot-7, 312-pound offensive lineman is only a redshirt sophomore, but he played like it at times against the Eagles. Ramil’s holding penalty negated a potential go-ahead 7-yard TD run from Brandon Tullis in the fourth quarter; on the next play, he got beat off the edge and allowed his defender to get to Chiles. However, when MSU needed a score in OT, both Frazier and Chiles ran behind Ramil and the left side of the line.

RB Brandon Tullis

As Frazier pulls away in the race for carries, with 81 yards on 17 attempts, Tullis has struggled to show he can do the little things to be on the field in critical moments. The sophomore failed for the second straight week in pass protection, allowing Chiles to get drilled for a sack on a third-and-goal from the BC 9 in the fourth quarter that forced MSU to settle for a field goal.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football winners, losers: Aidan Chiles, Nick Marsh star

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