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    • There is no magic bullet for this MSU team
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    There is no magic bullet for this MSU team

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    EAST LANSING – There is no silver bullet for Michigan State’s offense. That much was learned Friday night.

    No Kenneth Walker roaring around the perimeter for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. No Sedrick Irvin scoring four touchdowns in his debut. No Charles Rogers catching a 40-yard pass that makes your skin crawl just thinking about the possibilities. That’s the feeling MSU fans were hoping for from quarterback Aidan Chiles and the Spartans offense — that the new guy would bring some welcome excitement. That the new coaching staff would fix it.

    It was an overly optimistic and perhaps irrational thought. But be honest with yourself, that was the thought.

    Instead, Friday night’s 16-10 win over Florida Atlantic made clear the grind and development that still lies ahead. For Chiles. For the players around him. For the program, and especially the offense.

    There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not as much fun as being further along. And until the Spartans took the field Friday night, there was always that chance. Or at least the chance that they had that ready-made, next-level guy, even though quarterbacks almost never are that guy when they first start.

    “It’s me. I take full responsibility for everything that happened today,” Chiles said after completing 10 of 24 passes for 114 yards, running for a touchdown, throwing two interceptions (one by himself) and having one fumble, which he recovered.

    I respect the accountability. But Chiles’ performance is not something he can change next week with a little extra effort or focus. This could take some time. And he will only punish himself if he takes responsibility for MSU’s shortcomings every week.

    This is an offense that is still a long way off — at the line of scrimmage, at receiver. The growth needed in those areas will continue to give us a fair assessment of Chiles’ development. Because he’s not going to be artificially lifted up by his teammates. Whatever we see from Chiles, it’s going to be real.

    “Game 1s, you learn a lot about your team — and we’ve got a lot to work on,” Jonathan Smith said after his first game at the helm of MSU’s program. “What I did learn, and what I was happy about, is that there’s a response from this group. We’re going to play four quarters.”

    There were things to like about this MSU team on Friday — besides punter Ryan Eckley. And that’s an improvement over last year. The Spartan defense stepped up and got noticed — sometimes through personal fouls, but also through the waves of pressure they put on Florida Atlantic quarterback Cam Fancher and the sureness with which they tackled. We’ll learn more about this group as the offenses they face begin to embrace the forward pass, but the Spartan defense contained the fleet-footed Fancher and was in control throughout and, most importantly, made some of their biggest plays late in the game, when a missed tackle or botched assignment could have meant defeat.

    MSU’s defense had to be in control, but MSU’s offense wasn’t.

    MORE: Couch’s numbers for MSU’s performance against Florida Atlantic

    “I think Aiden wants to play better,” Smith said. “I think the other 10 guys on offense want to play better. We’ve got to help that guy. We’ve been inconsistent there, whether it’s missing a blocking scheme, (a) route. … Our run game isn’t where we want it to be.”

    Smith can identify with a rocky first attempt as a starting QB. He called his own midseason debut as a redshirt freshman at Oregon State in 1998, when he threw three interceptions and fumbled twice in a one-point home loss to Cal on Halloween — all the while riding the hype and high that came with throwing for a school-record 469 yards a week earlier, coming off the bench as an in-game injury.

    “It comes down to the response. And this is not easy,” Smith said.

    We all want things to look a little easier.

    Smith’s postgame tone was ideal for the situation. He was responsible — for a mistake by going for it on fourth-and-1 instead of shooting a field goal early in the fourth quarter. He wasn’t defensive or belligerent at all. He didn’t make any sweeping promises about next week’s offense or chide his players for their missteps. Nor did he act as if Friday’s narrow win was a win for the ages. He was chatty and looking forward to being back in the lab. A man in his element.

    “You have some urgency to address (issues), to clean them up (after) Game 1,” Smith said. “I think now that I’ve been doing this for seven years (as a head coach), I kind of think about (how) the Week 1 overreaction on Saturday. You know, the first impression, right?

    “We’re going back to work. Like we knew it wasn’t going to be perfect. There’s going to be an approach — ‘This was good, this wasn’t. Let’s get through this Sunday. Get ready for next week.’ And I believe in that.”

    It’s the right attitude. That’s for sure. This is going to take some time. Smith took over a program that fired its coach and went 2-8 the rest of the way. Then he and his staff brought in 61 new players, including Chiles.

    “I play football for a living and I didn’t perform my best today,” Chiles said.

    He also turns 19 next Thursday.

    MORE: Bench: 3 Quick Reactions to Michigan State Football’s 16-10 Win Over Florida Atlantic

    Contact Graham Couch at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

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