EAST LANSING — Jonathan Kim had a field day with Michigan State football’s homecoming.
A field goal day, that is. The Spartans’ defense took care of the rest.
Oh, and Aidan Chiles and the offense? Still a work in progress, but they showed progress in their work.
Kim, a sixth-year senior, set a single-game school record Saturday night with six field goals as MSU ended a three-game losing streak with a 32-20 victory over Iowa at Spartan Stadium.
“Really happy for our guys,” MSU coach Jonathan Smith said. “These guys have been working and did a good job, I thought, handling the bye week. We really had two weeks to prepare for this one, and I think it showed up out there. Just a team win. You talk about all three phases contributing to this one.”
That sets up Week 9’s rivalry game when the Spartans (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) travel to Ann Arbor for a 7:30 p.m. date with No. 22 Michigan (Big Ten Network). The Wolverines (4-3, 2-2) dropped a 21-7 road game at No. 21 Illinois on Saturday, their second straight loss.
It will be the first time U-M faces MSU coming off a loss since 2008, and the first game in the rivalry since 2005 with the Spartans coming in on a win and the Wolverines coming in on a loss.
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MSU never punted vs. Iowa, scoring on eight of nine possessions (discounting a final kneel), the lone failure a Chiles interception in the first half.
The Spartans ran for 212 yards — Kay’ron Lynch-Adams leading with 86 — and Chiles ran for 51 yards and passed for 256 and a score. Nick Marsh had eight catches for 113 yards, and Montorie Foster Jr. had five for 100 with a touchdown.
“After the bye week, we came out with energy,” Chiles said. “We knew what we had to do coming in. And our goal is to go 6-0 (the rest of the season), but it’s one week at a time. So we did it, we won the bye week and came out with a win this week.”
MSU entered as 6½-point underdogs while on a three-game losing skid, but was the better team against former Michigan transfer quarterback Cade McNamara and the Hawkeyes (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten).
But Kim scored the only points of the first half.
He connected on field goals of 42 and 43 yards in the first quarter, 36 and 29 in the second quarter, and 55 and 46 in the fourth quarter. His sixth field goal broke the school record of five in a game held by Paul Edinger (twice) and John Langeloh.
The Spartans’ defense bottled up Iowa star running back Kaleb Johnson until his 75-yard touchdown run with 7:22 to play, following Kim’s sixth field goal, to make it 25-20. Johnson, who entered as the Big Ten’s leading rusher and second in the nation at 156.2 yards per game, finished with 98 yards on 14 carries for the Hawkeyes. The Spartans held Iowa to 283 total yards, but the Hawkeyes scored three touchdowns in the second half after a first-half shutout.
Nate Carter powered in on a 1-yard run with 2:03 remaining to put MSU up two scores.
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For a team that boasted that it won the bye week, MSU mostly proved it in a statistically dominating first half.
Chiles led the Spartans on drives of 52 and 64 yards to open the game, settling for a pair of field goals from 42 and 43 yards. MSU’s defense smothered the Hawkeyes’ vaunted run game and standout Kaleb Johnson on their first two drives, forcing three-and-outs.
Chiles’ ninth interception of the season ended the Spartans’ third drive near midfield, but the defense again bowed up and stopped Iowa on three plays. The Hawkeyes had 17 yards on their first nine plays, and kicker Drew Stevens blasted a 58-yard attempt with plenty of distance that sailed wide right to give MSU the ball at its own 40.
The Spartans moved the ball, then sputtered after Chiles lost his helmet on a run and tight end Jack Velling moved early and took a penalty when backup QB Tommy Schuster came in. Kim finished off the red-zone trip with a 36-yarder to give MSU a 9-0 lead.
Iowa managed to move the ball 32 yards on its next possession, but McNamara threw a pair of incomplete passes to necessitate a punt.
Chiles took advantage again, moving the Spartans to the Hawkeyes’ 6. Planning to go for it on fourth-and-2, right guard Brandon Baldwin got flagged for a false start, and Kim booted his fourth field goal of the half from 29 yards out for a 12-0 lead.
MSU moved the ball in the hurry-up on its final possession, getting to Iowa’s 37, but Kim missed wide left from 55 yards as time expired in the half.
The Spartans in the first half had a lopsided 250-58 edge in yardage, including 132-30 on the ground, and gained 15 first downs to Iowa’s two. Chiles was 10-for-16 for 132 yards passing, and MSU owned a dominating 21:13-to-8:47 advantage in time of possession.
The Hawkeyes came out of halftime with a statement drive, marching 58 yards in eight plays after a 42-yard kickoff return by Kaden Wetjen to open the third quarter. McNamara threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Reece Vander Zee after the two connected on a 17-yard pass to keep the drive alive on third-and-4.
Chiles quickly moved MSU back down the field for its first touchdown, which included his 26-yard run in which he evaded pressure to shimmy and power his way to a critical first down to keep the possession alive. His perfect, 18-yard touchdown spiral to a wide open Foster on a corner route off play-action put MSU ahead 19-7 lead with 4:34 left in the third.
Iowa scored another touchdown, but Kim tied the school record with a 55-yard boom for a 22-14 edge. Then safety Nikai Martinez picked off McNamara two plays later, and Kim set the record with a 46-yarder after MSU’s Jaron Glover took an offensive pass interference penalty that negated a 17-yard touchdown catch by Aziah Johnson.
“I’m just happy I’m able to go out and just help this team win,” said Kim, who is now 15 of 16 on field goal attempts this season. “It’s an honor to be able to set that record.”
After Kaleb Johnson’s long run pulled Iowa within 25-20, MSU embarked on a nine-play, 75-yard drive that included three throws to Marsh for 42 total yards and an 8-yard toss to Carter on third-and-3, before his 1-yard plunge with 2:03 left.
The defense held up from there, with an Iowa illegal touching penalty near the goal line on fourth down ending a final attempt to make it close again.
“I feel we gave each other energy,” said Martinez, who had six tackles to go with his interception. “So if one side of the ball was doing good, we were able to boost the other side of the ball. No matter good or bad, we’re all in this together. We all have one goal, and that’s win the football game.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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