Aidan Chiles threw two touchdown passes in the first half to help build a three-touchdown lead, and Michigan State held on to beat Purdue 24-17 on Friday night.
The Spartans (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) are now one win away from becoming bowl eligible under first-year coach Jonathan Smith. They will play Rutgers at home in their last regular-season game.
“It means a lot,” Chiles said. “We should’ve been in this place a long time ago.”
The Boilermakers (1-10, 0-8) have now lost 10 straight games and need a big upset against rival and fifth-ranked Indiana to avoid matching a school record for most losses in a season under second-year coach Ryan Walters.
Pressure is high, as Walters admitted. “It comes with the territory and sitting in the chair I’m sitting in,” he said.
Michigan State scored three touchdowns and a field goal on its first four drives in the first half, leading 24-3 at halftime. However, they struggled to move the ball in the second half, and Purdue almost took advantage.
“It’s kind of disappointing to come out hot and the next half look like we never played football before,” Chiles said.
With a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter, Purdue’s Hudson Card threw a pass toward Max Klare, but it bounced around and was intercepted by linebacker Jordan Turner at the Michigan State 31-yard line.
Purdue had another chance to tie the game on their next drive, but Jahmal Edrine dropped a long pass while wide open behind the defense. The Boilermakers turned the ball over on downs at midfield with 3:05 left.
Chiles missed his first chance to seal the win on a third-down run when he went out of bounds instead of cutting back to probably get a first down and keep the clock running.
“I was supposed to get a first down and I thought I did,” he said. On fourth-and-1, Chiles took a sneak and was spotted just past the first-down marker, allowing him to kneel and run out the clock.
Chiles finished 15 of 31 for 159 yards and threw multiple touchdown passes for the third time this season. He connected on a 7-yard touchdown pass to Montorie Foster in the first quarter and a 20-yard touchdown pass to Nate Carter with 41 seconds left in the first half. Carter also had a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Card completed 26 of 47 passes for a career-high 342 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Klare had seven receptions for 83 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter that brought Purdue within a touchdown.
