Post-Game Notes: Prairie View A&M

GAME NOTES
• Michigan State moved to 3-0 in head coach Jonathan Smith's first season at the helm of the Spartans . . . it's MSU's first 3-0 start since 2021.

• Smith becomes the fifth MSU head coach to start 3-0 overall in their first season as the Spartans' head coach, and the first since Mark Dantonio in 2007 ... Smith joins Dantonio, Bobby Williams in 2000, George Gauthier in 1918 and Frank Sommers in 1916.

SERIES / VS. FCS TEAMS
• Saturday was the first-ever meeting on the football field between Michigan State and Prairie View A&M.

• While it was the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and Panthers, MSU improved to 9-0 all-time vs. teams from NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and second straight season after beating Richmond, 45-14, last season . . . with Saturday's 40-0 Victory for MSU, the Spartans have now outscored their FCS opposition, 372-81 (average score 41-9), in the nine FCS match-ups.

OFFENSE
• Michigan State scored a season-high 40 points, the most points since scoring 45 in Week 2 of last season against Richmond.

• The Spartans scored a TD on their opening possession for the second game in a row, after scoring a TD last week at Maryland on its first offensive series.

• A total of eight different Spartans had at least one rushing attempt, while 10 different MSU players had a catch.

• Sophomore starting quarterback Aidan Chiles was 12-of-19 passing for 173 yards and one TD . . . after three TDs last week at Maryland, Chiles registered his second straight game with a TD pass for just the second time in his career, after back-to-back games vs. Cal and UCLA last season while he was at Oregon State . . . Chiles now has four TD passing on the season, matching his season total from his time at Oregon State.

• Chiles also rushed three times for 8 yards, including a 6-yard scamper for a TD in the first quarter on the Spartans' opening possession . . . Chiles now has two rushing TDs after also finding the end zone in the season opener vs. Florida Atlantic.

• Graduate back-up quarterback Tommy Schuster made his Spartan debut after transferring from North Dakota . . . Schuster was 8-of-10 passing for 97 yards, including going 6-of-6 on his first series spanning the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter, capping the drive with a field goal and a 33-0 Spartan advantage . . . Schuster then scored his first TD as a Spartan on the next MSU possession, on a 1-yard scoring plunge to paydirt on his lone rushing attempt of the day . . . it was Schuster's sixth career rushing TD.

• Redshirt junior running back Nathan Carter had eight carries for 93 yards with a TD on a 60-yard scoring scamper in the second quarter . . . it was Carter's first rushing TD of the season, his fifth as a Spartan and the eighth of his collegiate career . . . the 60-yard scamper was the longest offensive play of Carter's collegiate career, bettering his previous season-long of 30 yards last week at Maryland, his previous MSU career long of 44 yards in 2023 vs. Richmond, and topping his previous career long of 52 yards vs. Utah State in 2022 during his tenure at UConn.

• Graduate running back Kay'ron Lynch-Adams had a team and game-high 15 carries for 63 yards, his second game as a Spartan with 50 or more yards after his 101 yards in the season opener vs. Florida Atlantic . . . the 15 rushing attempts are a season high and the most since 18 vs. UConn during his career at UMass.

• Redshirt freshman wide receiver Aziah Johnson scored the first TD of his Spartan career with the 17-yard scoring catch from Chiles in the first quarter for MSU's 14-0 lead . . . Johnson added a career-long 33-yard catch in the third quarter to finish with two receptions for 50 yards . . . Johnson is the fourth different Spartan with a TD reception this season.

• Senior wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. led the Spartan receivers with four catches, going for 37 yards . . . Foster extended his streak of one catch in 16-consecutive games dating back to 2022, and he has at least one catch in 26 of his last 38 career games played.

• Sophomore wide receiver Antonio Gates Jr. snared a career-high three catches for 42 yards.

DEFENSE
• The Spartan defense pitched their first shutout of the season and first since blanking Akron, 52-0 on Sept. 10, 2022.

• MSU also scored its first defensive touchdown of the year and first since last season vs. Iowa (9/30/23) when Cal Haladay had a 42-yard scoop-and-score on a fumble recovery for a TD.

• The Spartans held PVAMU to just 17 rushing yards, their lowest of the season and first time holding the opposition to 25 or fewer since 22 by Akron (27 carries) on Sept. 10, 2022 . . . it was the fewest yards since holding Tulsa to -73 yards by Tulsa (25 carries) on Aug. 30, 2019.

• Redshirt junior defensive back Charles Brantley's 100-yard interception return in the second quarter was the longest defensive TD in school history, bettering the previous record of 99-yard INT return by Dan Bass in 1978 vs. Wisconsin . . . Brantley now has MSU's last two pick-sixes as Saturday's INT for a TD was the first since Brantley had a 32-yard pick-six vs. Ohio State on Oct. 8, 2022.

• Brantley's 100-yard interception for a TD was the 16th 100-yard interception return in Big Ten history.

• It was Brantley's second interception of the season and his fourth career INT . . . Brantley now has 139-yards of returns, taking over the No. 16 spot on MSU's career interception return yards list, passing Bass with 138 yards on six INTs (1976-79).

• Fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Turner matched his jersey number with total tackles for the second-straight game with a game-high seven stops Saturday . . . Turner added 1.5 tackles for loss (11 yards) and 1.0 sack (9 yards), logging a TFL for the third game in a row.

• Senior linebacker Cal Haladay had four tackles, adding a career-high tying 1.0 sack as part of 1.5 tackles for loss, now with 2.5 TFLs on the season and his first sack of the year and only his third career game with 1.0 sack, last doing exactly 13 months ago vs. Rutgers (10/14/23).

SPECIAL TEAMS
• Graduate placekicker Jonathan Kim was 2-for-2 on field goals, marking his second straight game with multiple field goals, now 4-of-4 on FGs . . . Kim had made his previous 28 PATs of his career before a miss in the second stanza; he is now 28-of-29 on PATs for his career.

• Redshirt sophomore punter Ryan Eckley punted just once, but made it a good one, going 55 yards to register his ninth straight game with at least one punt of 50+ yards and in 10 of his last 11 games and 11 of his last 13 games . . . Eckley now has 29 punts of 50 or more yards out of 66 career punts (.439).

Players Mentioned

Charles Brantley

Aidan Chiles

Ryan Eckley

Montorie Foster Jr.

Antonio Gates Jr.

Cal Haladay

Aziah Johnson

Jonathan Kim

Kay'ron Lynch-Adams

Tommy Schuster

Jordan Turner

Related Videos