Michigan State junior starting quarterback Aidan Chiles had taken noticeable steps in his play during the 2025 season, but struggled in the loss at Nebraska this past weekend.

Many of the issues that plagued Chiles during his up-and-down 2024 season resurfaced against the Cornhuskers, including turnovers, low accuracy on throws, poor footwork, inability to get through his progressions and questionable decision-making, among other things. 

Entering the game against the Cornhuskers, Chiles was having a strong 2025 campaign and it was clear he has improved from last year, and even from week-to-week. Through the first four games of the season, Chiles had completed 70 out of 102 passing attempts (68.6%) for 868 yards, nine touchdowns and only one interception, while adding 154 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. 

Against Nebraska, he completed just nine out of 23 passes (39.1%) for 85 yards with zero passing touchdowns and two interceptions. He did make plays with his legs and scored a career-high two rushing touchdowns, with his second score on the ground giving MSU a brief 21-14 lead late in the the third quarter. However, the Spartans eventually fell to the Cornhuskers, 38-27. 

To be fair to Chiles, he took a big hit early on and had to briefly leave the game against Nebraska and seek medical attention before returning. His pass protection was also abysmal throughout the contest, as he was sacked four times and pressured numerous times, although there were times when Chiles needed to get rid of the ball quicker himself. 

So what went wrong against the Cornhuskers? Nebraska does have the No. 1 passing defense in the country, and the conditions were extremely windy in Lincoln, so it was never going to be easy on Chiles and MSU's passing game. But there was a lot more to it than that. 

On Tuesday, Michigan State offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren broke down Chiles' play against the Cornhuskers and addressed some of the reasons why Chiles appeared to regress a bit this past weekend. Lindgren also mentioned that the offense has to execute as a whole, and not all of the issues fall on Chiles.

"Obviously it wasn't his best game," Lindgren said about Chiles. "(He) just wasn't in a rhythm early, and that falls on myself as the offensive coordinator and play-caller. I've got to find a way to get him comfortable, with some easy throws. Unfortunately we had, I think the second play, we call one, we've got a hitch (route), we just don't execute, we drop it. I think (if) we catch that, we get a first down, we give (Chiles) a little bit more confidence that way.

"I've got to find some ways to get him some easy throws, build confidence. And then we've got to execute across the board. I think from (pass) protection to Aidan (Chiles) being comfortable in the pocket — negotiating some pressure and going through his progression — and then being detailed with our routes.

"Across the board, we've gotta execute at a higher level and get the passing game going and the run game as well, so we can not be in so many of those (third-and-long situations). It's tough on a quarterback, you go and you're having to throw third-and-10s, third-and-12s, and at this level ... those are tough situations to consistently convert on."

As mentioned, Michigan State's offensive line struggled in pass protection against the Cornhuskers. On the 2025 season as a whole, MSU has allowed 14 sacks on the 2025 season. The Spartans rank poorly in this metric, as they are tied for 112th nationally in sacks allowed. 

Lindgren understands that it is possible Chiles loses confidence in his offensive line, and that would obviously be a concern. Lindgren admitted that may have happened on a couple occasions against Nebraska, but it is something Chiles and the offensive line are working through and is not expected to be a long-term trust issue. 

"Yeah, that's something that you do (worry about)," Lindgren said about the quarterback losing confidence when the offensive line struggles. "One of the challenging parts about playing that position is you take some shots and you get beat, and ultimately, man, you've got to trust that group. You've gotta trust that the protection's gonna get done, and that's what we've been trying to drill into him and talk to him about, that that's something he's gotta battle through.

"I think there (were) times in the game (at Nebraska) where there was a little bit of lack of trust and his eyes started to go down and he turned into a one (read)-and-done guy, which we saw a little bit last year. I thought early in the season, we got away from that, he was able to get through and find through some of his progressions. So that's something that we're working with him on and drilling all that stuff in practice, and hopefully he can take the next step and show some progress on that this week (versus UCLA)."

With Chiles being such an athletic quarterback who can make plays happen with his legs, it can be difficult to balance when to stay in the pocket and go through all of his progressions versus when he needs to take off and run with the football. A lot falls on Chiles' shoulders, and Lindgren said it's a "fine line" to balance and that it can "challenging" to coach him through those decisions, but that it ultimately comes down to "trust" that his teammates will get their job done and help him make those plays.