Michigan State defense, overturned call save Jonathan Smith's debut in 16-10 win over FAU

EAST LANSING — This was far from the start Jonathan Smith envisioned.

It was far from the start Michigan State football needed from Aidan Chiles.

It was far from the decision-making defensive coordinator Joe Rossi wanted to see from his players, with penalties and late hits on Florida Atlantic quarterback Cam Fancher.

But the Spartans somehow survived all of the costly blunders and mistakes.

One major call in a game filled with flags went their way.

Jordan Turner appeared to get called for a targeting penalty with 3:27 remaining in the game and FAU near midfield. But referees overturned the call upon review despite flagging the MSU linebacker also for unsportsmanlike conduct, after blasting Fancher and knocking his helmet off for the second time in the game.

The officials said the replay showed Fancher started his slide short of the first-down marker on fourth-and-1, giving the Spartans back the ball, with the other penalties assessed after the turnover on downs.

Rossi’s defense, which provided big plays all night through the penalties, held on to stop the Owls and preserve a 16-10 victory Friday night at Spartan Stadium.

The offense went three-and-out after the flipped call, but the MSU defense found one last stop in the final 90 seconds to secure the victory.

TRENDING:Aidan Chiles' Michigan State debut shows tantalizing moves — and awful decisions

The Spartans will open Big Ten play next Saturday at Maryland (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).

The Terps host Connecticut at noon Saturday to open their season.

There clearly is plenty of work needed for Smith and his staff to correct the very visible kinks — namely the offensive inefficiency and a glut of penalties that proved problematic.

Penalty problems

MSU committed 12 penalties for 140 yards, with eight of those flags coming against defensive players and seven of those for 15 yards apiece. Starting safety Malik Spencer was thrown out of the game after a targeting flag for a head-to-head hit on Fancher that knocked his helmet off early in the second quarter.

Fancher’s late slides caused a lot of issues for the Spartans’ defense, but they managed a bunch of big plays to provide the momentum their struggling offense couldn’t.

Few could have predicted a sack safety would get the scoring started, but Georgia Tech transfer D’Quan Douse put the Spartans on the scoreboard midway through the first quarter. Angelo Grose and Nikai Martinez (UCF transfer) picked off passes to stop Florida Atlantic drives.

MSU sacked Fancher seven times, holding the Owls to 248 total yards. Their only TD was a 10-yard Fancher pass with 7 seconds left in the third quarter on a blown coverage, which set up the fourth-quarter dramatics.

Aidan Chiles' choppy debut

With all the build-up to his first career start after playing in nine games as a true freshman at Oregon State last year, it was about as inauspicious of a debut for Chiles as possible.

The sophomore quarterback transfer who followed Smith from Oregon State finished 10-for-24 for 114 yards, no TD passes and two picks.

Massachusetts transfer running back Kay’ron Lynch-Adams had 101 yards in his MSU debut on nine carries and a long TD run. Nate Carter added 48 yards on 19 attempts.

The Spartans managed just 293 yards of offense.

Chiles looked very much like an 18-year-old, first-time starter. His first pass on MSU’s first play of the season was picked off, bobbled by receiver Montorie Foster Jr. and intercepted with a toe-tap refs reviewed and ruled a turnover 7 seconds into the game.

Chiles, who threw a telegraphed second interception near the goal line that thwarted a third-quarter scoring chance, showed his potential with an 11-yard touchdown run in the second quarter after Martinez’s interception.

Lynch-Adams broke off a 63-yard scoring run on MSU’s next drive to give the Spartans a 16-0 lead with 9:17 left in the first half.

MSU had a chance to go up three scores with a field goal early in the fourth quarter, but offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren instead opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the FAU 9. Lynch-Adams had no chance and was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on the play.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State defense, review save Jonathan Smith debut vs. FAU