Michigan State football snapped a three-game losing streak with a big win at home against Iowa.
Michigan State jumped ahead early and withstood a second-half charge from Iowa to hold on to a 32-20 win to move to 4-3 on the season in MSU’s fourth consecutive night game. The Spartans got a win coming off a bye week after losing three straight games, including back-to-back losses to top-5 ranked Oregon and Ohio State. MSU is now two wins away from being bowl-eligible for the first time since 2021.
MSU drove into Iowa territory on five of its six first-half possessions but only came away with four field goals from Jonathan Kim for a 12-0 halftime lead. But they were perfect defensively, holding Iowa to 58 yards, two first downs and no points.
Iowa scored the game’s first touchdown on the first drive of the second half after finding some success through the air. Michigan State answered immediately with a Chiles touchdown pass to Montorie Foster Jr. Iowa put together another scoring drive and found the end zone on a Brendan Sullivan keeper. Jonathan Kim hit his fifth field goal from 55 yards and a program-record sixth from 46 yards to push the lead to 11. Kaleb Johnson ran for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play after MSU’s sixth field goal. MSU iced the game with a long touchdown drive that took five minutes off the clock and ended in a Nate Carter 1-yard score.
Iowa was coming off a 40-16 blowout win over Washington and dropped to 4-3 on the season. MSU also beat Iowa for the first time since 2017 and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes.
Check out the game recap from the Spartans’ 32-20 win below.
Michigan State’s offense put together a winning drive and found the end zone when it mattered most to go up two touchdowns with two minutes left. MSU took five minutes off the clock with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Nate Carter 1-yard touchdown. Aidan Chiles converted a big third down with a throw under pressure to Nick Marsh for a 24-yard gain on the sideline. They turned to the running game from there and Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams and Carter carried MSU into the red zone. Chiles checked out of a run to hit Nick Marsh on a quick out for an 11-yard gain down to the 1, then Carter finished it off.
MSU’s defense did exactly what it couldn’t and gave up a big play immediately. On the first play of the drive, Kaleb Johnson broke through the left side of the line and there were no defenders to be found and he raced to the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown. Iowa went for two to try to cut the deficit to a field goal, but Cade McNamara fired an incomplete pass.
Jonathan Kim’s night will be forever immortalized in Michigan State’s record books after the senior kicker made a program-record sixth field goal to give the Spartans an 11-point lead. After the interception, MSU seemingly cracked a big play on third-and-7 to reach Iowa’s 1, but Jaron Glover was called for offensive pass interference, forcing the offense to settle for their seventh field goal attempt.
MSU’s defense came up with its first big play of the second half for its first turnover.
On the second play of Iowa’s drive, McNamara floated a ball way too high over the middle and it landed directly in the chest of Martinez, who returned it to Iowa’s 30-yard line.
Jonathan Kim made up for his lone miss earlier and nailed a 55-yard field goal for his fifth make of the game to push the lead back to eight. Aidan Chiles hit Montorie Foster for a 22-yard gain on first down, followed by two runs for 18 yards from Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams to reach field goal range. MSU went backward with a false start and sack but made up the yardage with a third-down run to set up the 55-yarder.
Michigan State’s defense looks completely out of sorts after dominating in the first half.
Iowa drove down the field again and found the end zone, this time on a keeper from backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan. The drive got kickstarted on a 28-yard completion to tight end Luke Lachey after a play-action fooled the defense, and a facemask tacked on an additional 15 yards. Michigan State has no answer for Iowa’s passing response in the second half.
Michigan State finally found the end zone and it came at the right time to answer Iowa’s touchdown. MSU drove 75 yards in nine plays with the big spark coming on a 26-yard run from Aidan Chiles to convert a third-and-2. MSU picked up one more first down with three runs, then Chiles found a wide-open Foster in the corner of the end zone on a play-action pass for MSU’s first touchdown.
Iowa’s offense made the right adjustments at halftime.
The Hawkeyes drove 58 yards in eight plays and found the end zone on an 18-yard touchdown to Reece Vander Zee, who beat Ed Woods on the outside for the game’s first touchdown. Iowa threw it successfully and picked up 45 yards through the air after only having 30 passing yards in the first half.
Michigan State got the ball back for a final possession and just got inside Kim’s range, but he pulled the 55-yard kick wide left for his first miss this season. But, it has been all Michigan State outside of that. The Spartans have held Iowa to 58 total yards with just two first downs, compared to MSU’s 15. MSU hasn’t been able to find a way to crack Iowa’s red zone defense, but its defense has shut down the Hawkeyes.
Michigan State ran out of steam in the red zone again and only came away with three points. Aidan CHiles found Nick Marsh over the middle for a first down, and then Iowa committed pass interference against Marsh down the field. Aziah Johnson and Kay’Ron Lynch Adams picked up a pair of first downs on a reverse and swing pass and MSU got down to Iowa’s 6-yard line for fourth-and-2. MSU lined up to go for it, but Brandon Baldwin committed a false start, forcing MSU to settle for another short field goal from Kim, who is a perfect 4-for-4.
Michigan State kicked its third field goal in four possessions to extend the lead to nine. Aidan Chiles hit Montorie Foster and Nick Marsh on back-to-back plays for two first downs to move into Iowa territory and briefly reached the red zone before a false start backed them up. MSU couldn’t convert a third-and-3 run and opted for the 36-yard field goal on fourth-and-2 from Iowa’s 18.
The interception didn’t prove to be costly for Michigan State. Iowa only gained five yards after the turnover and Drew Stevens’ 58-yard field goal came nowhere close. MSU has the ball at its own 40 to start the second quarter.
Aidan Chiles threw his ninth interception of the season on MSU’s third drive trying to fit a third-down pass over the middle to Montorie Foster. Chiles did not see Entringer sitting underneath the route and he easily stepped in front to give Iowa the ball at MSU’s 45 for their best field position so far.
Michigan State’s defense forced a three-and-out on Iowa’s first possession and doubled its lead with another field goal drive. Aidan Chiles hit Montorie Foster down the sideline on a play-action pass for a 37-yard gain to kickstart the drive, followed by two first downs on the ground from Nate Carter and Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams to reach field goal territory. Chiles completed a dump-off pass for a short gain on first down but threw incomplete on second and third down to bring Kim back out for a 43-yard kick.
The Spartans got the ball first and put together an eight-play, 52-yard drive that ended in a 42-yard field goal from Jonathan Kim. The drive started with a pair of 8-yard runs and a 19-yard completion to Aidan Chiles to move into Iowa territory. Nate Carter picked up one more first down with an 11-yard run, but Aidan Chiles couldn’t find anyone to throw to on third-and-4 and had to throw it away.
Michigan State’s injury report had no new names on it after the bye week. Defensive backs Dillon Tatum and Chance Rucker, along with wide receiver Antonio Gates Jr. remain out and wide receiver Alante Brown was listed as questionable. Brown, who is going through warmups in pads, has not played since the season opener against Florida Atlantic.
Michigan State is looking to get back to the formula that delivered wins early in the season. The Spartans’ offense has been inconsistent in moving the ball while struggling mightily with turnovers, while the defense which looked stingy was overmatched against the top teams in the conference.
MSU ranks in the bottom third in the country in scoring (19.8 points per game) and total offense (349.8 yards per game) with 14 turnovers through six games. Better ball security from quarterback Aidan Chiles is paramount along with more consistency to keep drives alive.
On defense, the Spartans started strong but couldn’t hold up against two national title contenders in Oregon and OSU. Michigan State struggled against the run in those games, and will have a tough test against a Hawkeyes offense averaging 228.8 rushing yards per game.
MSU is dealing with injuries at all three levels. The secondary was hit the hardest, but the biggest question marks are linebacker Jordan Hall and defensive tackle Maverick Hansen, who are both questionable.
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NBC Sports’ Saturday night team will call the game, with Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge covering from the booth at Spartan Stadium, and Kathryn Tappen reporting from the sidelines.
MSU: Out: TE Michael Masunas (shoulder, season), OL Kristian Phillips (left leg, season), OL Gavin Broscious (lower left leg, season), DB Khalil Majeed (lower body, season), CB Chance Rucker (arm), WR Alante Brown (upper body), DB Dillon Tatum (lower body). Questionable: WR Antonio Gates Jr. (undisclosed), CB Ade Willie (undisclosed). Probable: LB Jordan Hall (undisclosed), DT Maverick Hansen (lower left leg).
Iowa: Out: OL Beau Stephens (ankle), TE Addison Ostrenga (undisclosed). Questionable: WR Kaleb Brown (undisclosed), RB Leshon Williams (undisclosed).
Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press: The prime-time network audience will get treated to a classic, old-school Big Ten slugfest as the Spartans come out and establish themselves at the line of scrimmage on offense to get the run game moving. In a pivotal game for MSU’s bowl chances, kicker Jonathan Kim wins it at the final horn with a field goal to send the Spartans to Michigan next week on an emotional high. The pick: MSU 16, Iowa 13.
Odds provided by BetMGM as of Saturday evening.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city’s professional teams, the state’s two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
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