BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – In the annals of Indiana football, the 1945 and 1967 seasons stand above the rest.
In 1945, the Bo McMillin-coached Hoosiers finished 9-0-1 to win Indiana’s first (and only) outright Big Ten championship. In 1967, the John Pont-coached Hoosiers started 8-0 on their way to a shared Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl bid.
The 1945 Hoosiers finished unbeaten, but their lone blemish was a 7-7 tie against Northwestern in their second game of the season.
The 1967 Hoosiers started 8-0 but lost 33-7 at Minnesota in their penultimate game, which opened the door for the Golden Gophers to get in the Big Ten title race. Indiana would eventually finish in a three-way tie with Minnesota and Purdue.
The season is two games longer than it was in 1945 and 1967, but the current Hoosiers can rise above the historic 1945 and 1967 teams if they can win at Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
A 9-0 start would ensure that 2024 would be the oft-cited season when future Indiana teams try to measure up. However, a win at Michigan State won’t be easy.
The Spartans (4-4, 2-3) are a different team at Spartan Stadium. Michigan State is 3-1 at home; the only setback was a 38-7 loss to Ohio State in Week 5.
“You don’t win every game by accident. They’re one of the hottest teams in the country. We have to reload and regroup,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said.
In an odd quirk that favors the Hoosiers, the road team has won the Old Brass Spittoon trophy game in four straight seasons. The only time Indiana has won three in a row in East Lansing was from 1967-69.
Here’s what to know about the Spartans:
Key Offensive Players
• The adjective to describe Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles is mercurial.
Chiles came with Smith from Oregon State. He’s shown flashes of both good and bad. On the good side, Chiles has thrown for 1,657 yards and rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns. He can make plays with his arm and his feet.
On the down side, Chiles has thrown nine interceptions, and his 61% completion rate ranks 13th in the Big Ten.
Chiles has been better in recent games. He completed 22 of 30 against a tough Iowa defense in a 32-20 Michigan State victory on Oct. 19. In a 24-17 loss at Michigan Saturday, Chiles completed 17 of 23 passes for 189 yards.
“You got to keep him in the pocket when he drops back ’cause he can run around and make plays,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said.
• Michigan State has an extremely experienced backfield. Junior Nate Carter and UMass transfer Kay’ron Lynch-Adams have both rushed for over 2,000 career yards.
While Lynch-Adams leads the Spartans in rushing with 459 yards, Carter has been productive of late. He had a career-high 118 rushing yards in the loss at Michigan. In his last two games, Carter has averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
Smith has been pleased with Michigan State’s overall rushing production.
“The last two weeks, particularly in the run game, we’ve taken a step, and it makes things easier on your quarterback when you have balance like that,” Smith said.
• While graduate student Montorie Foster leads the Spartans in receptions, Michigan State has two promising freshmen in its wide receiving corps who bear watching.
Nick Marsh (26 catches, 475 yards) ranks 10th in the Big Ten at 67.9 receiving yards per game. The Detroit native can beat you deep as he averages 17 yards per catch.
Fellow freshman Aziah Johnson can top that. The Richmond, Va., native averages 18.1 yards from 8 catches. Johnson is a redshirt freshman who played four games in the 2023 season.
Key Defensive Players
• Regardless of whether Kurtis Rourke or Tayven Jackson plays quarterback for Indiana, they need to keep a keen eye on cornerback Charles Brantley. The fourth-year Spartan leads Michigan State with three interceptions. He had only two career picks entering the season.
Brantley is tied for fourth in the Big Ten and is 26th nationally with eight passes defended.
• Michigan State has an extremely experienced defensive line. The Spartans can call on five graduate students to play in the trenches.
The best of them at pressuring the quarterback is defensive end Khris Bogle. He’s tied for the team lead with three sacks, and he has five tackles for loss. Bogle is in his third year with the Spartans after he played three years at Florida to start his career.
• Linebacker Cal Haladay is the mainstay of the Michigan State defense. A weak-side linebacker, Haladay has started 31 consecutive games for the Spartans. He is tied for second on the Spartans with 40 tackles, and his 347 career tackles are ninth-most at Michigan State, a school that has churned out some quality defensive players in its history.
Michigan State Notes
• Indiana connection in Michigan State fracas with Michigan: While the Indiana game is a trophy game for Michigan State, the contest that creates the most ill will annually for the Spartans is its intra-state battle with Michigan.
With the Wolverines taking a kneel-down at Michigan Stadium to clinch a 24-17 victory, Michigan tight end Colston Loveland and Michigan State defensive end Anthony Jones shoved each other, which led to a Loveland head-butt that triggered a bench-clearing fracas.
Jones played for the Hoosiers last season and recorded 12 tackles, including one for loss.
It occurred near the Michigan bench, so more Wolverines were on the field than the Spartans. There were a few punches thrown, but it was mostly pushing and shoving. The Big Ten is still reviewing the situation to determine if any suspensions will be levied.
“I think we would have liked to have finished better on both sides,” Smith said.
Jones is a reserve for the Spartans, so if he was sanctioned by the Big Ten, it would not alter Michigan State’s starting lineup.
Smith, who has experience with an intense intra-state rivalry when he was at Oregon State, took note of the intensity of the battle with Michigan.
“That thing is different. That thing is important. That’s why it’s so frustrating to feel like we could have done some things better,” Smith said. “After experiencing that sucker, I will not forget that thing.”
One player Michigan State will be without in the first half is linebacker Jordan Turner. He was called for targeting against the Wolverines when it was determined he used the crown of his helmet in a hit on Michigan quarterback Alex Orji. Michigan State’s appeal to the Big Ten was denied.
• On the Indiana schedule: A question was posed to Smith during his weekly press conference. Would you rather have the confidence-building schedule Indiana has had, or would you rather want to know every hard truth about your team from the start?
Indiana’s schedule is ranked 106th in the country – the worst strength of schedule of any Big Ten team. The Spartans have the ninth-toughest schedule.
“I don’t know if one way is way better than the other. We don’t dictate the schedule, and in this conference that’s how it’s going to play out sometimes. There’s 18 teams, and you only play nine of them. You’re going to miss some opponents,” Smith said.
Smith lauded his own schedule.
“It’s been tough. We’ve played some real teams, but I’m proud of our group as we continue to battle. We’ve gained confidence, and we can go toe-to-toe with just about anybody, and we want to play our best football in November,” Smith continued.
• Old Brass Spittoon: The Old Brass Spittoon trophy dates to the 1950 season. Not long before Michigan State joined the Big Ten, the Michigan State student council proposed the trophy series and Indiana accepted.
The spittoon itself came from a Michigan trading post. The thought is that the spittoon existed when each institution was founded. Indiana was founded in 1820 and Michigan State in 1855.
Michigan State owns the series with a 50-18-2 mark. Indiana has only won eight times in East Lansing, though the Hoosiers have won the last two games there.
