EAST LANSING, Mich. – Aidan Chiles ran for a touchdown and threw for another, and Charles Brantley returned an interception a school-record 100 yards Saturday as Michigan State beat Football Championship Subdivision program Prairie View A&M 40-0.
It is the first time the Spartans (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) have opened the season with three straight wins since 2021. Their last shutout was 52-0 over Akron in 2022. Michigan State is 9-0 all-time against FCS opponents and has outscored them 372-81.
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“There’s still room to improve, but we put up points today,” said Chiles who completed 12 of 19 passes for 173 yards. “I can’t complain about it. I feel like offensively, we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds, but overall we can move the ball."
Michigan State scored on three of its first four possessions. Chiles opened the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run and followed with a 17-yard pass to Aziah Johnson to put the Spartans up 14-0 in the first quarter. A 60-yard touchdown run by Nathan Carter and Brantley’s return of Cameron Peters' first down throw in the second pushed the lead to 27-0. Just seven plays earlier, Brantley had a 35-yard interception return for a score wiped out by a roughing the passer call.
“I was just more so responding off the penalty that we had,” Brantley said of the long return. “I was like, OK, we got a pick six. They call the flag. OK, we’ve got to respond now. Then they drove us down (the field). Then they try to run a fake play. I seen it, read it and they threw it up and I caught it.”
In the second half, the Spartans, playing an HCBU opponent for the first time, added field goals of 33 and 23 yards by Jonathan Kim and a 1-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Tommy Schuster to close out the scoring.
The Panthers' (0-1 SWAC, 1-2) best scoring chance came when they drove to the Spartans’ 9-yard line midway through the second quarter but were pushed back 11 yards and Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez’s 37-yard field goal attempt was wide right.
THE TAKEAWAY
Prairie View A&M: The Panthers were overmatched against Michigan State but still were able to move the ball at times. Prairie View A&M crossed midfield three times but was unable to come away with points. Trejon Spiller, who came into the game with five receptions for 55 yards, finished with seven catches for 91 yards.
“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot," Panthers coach Bubba McDowell said. “We got the momentum going, and we set ourselves back with a penalty or something.”
Michigan State: Penalties continue to plague the Spartans who were tied for 129th out of 133 Football Bowl Subdivision teams at 11 penalties per game. Michigan State had 11 penalties for 88 yards, resulting in two touchdowns being called back.
“I actually mentioned to our team, you go double digits again in penalties, that’s going to catch up to us,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said. “We got to find a way to coach it better starting with us. So that’ll be a point of emphasis again.”
UP NEXT
Prairie View A&M: Hosts SWAC foe Southern University on Saturday.
Michigan State: Travels to Boston College for a prime-time matchup on Saturday.
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