Fantastic, Functional, Forgettable: Aidan Chiles, Ryan Eckley shine in Week 2 win, WMU run game rolls, EMU defense run over again

“Fantastic, Functional, Forgettable” is back for Week 2, this time with an evening edition after a long, overtime-filled Saturday (and NFL football filled Sunday).

To recap, this column/grading/weekend wrap up basically aims to bucket performances by players, units or teams into three distinct groups: Fantastic, Functional, and Forgettable. The first, Fantastic, is self-explanatory. Functional is also about what you’d expect, things that worked out OK but need work. And Forgettable covers most everything from the proverbial bad or unproductive days at the office to “burn the tape” performances. 

And to remember what happened this weekend:

• Pitt beat Central Michigan, 45-17
• North Texas beat Western Michigan, 33-30, in OT
• Long Island beat Eastern Michigan, 28-23
• Oklahoma beat Michigan, 24-13
• Michigan State beat Boston College, 42-40, in 2OT

And while not a gamer, this story from earlier today on Nick Marsh embodying the Spartans' growth is part of why his two-touchdown performance didn't show up here.

Here are the highs and lows from the weekend. 

Fantastic

Aidan Chiles: Accounting for five total touchdowns, 270 yards (of Michigan State’s 380 total) and coming through for his team in overtime after appearing to tweak his ankle at the end of regulation, Chiles made Saturday a memorable night for the Spartans. He had his misses and also had to deal with a fair amount of pressure, but stepped up in crunch time. He scrambled fearlessly, hit the throws that he needed to hit late, especially for scores, and delivered a near-perfect throw to Omari Kelly in the back corner of the end zone for a walk off two-point conversion. The more Chiles can play like he did on Saturday night, the more Michigan State can expect to be in games. The arrow continues to point up. 

Ryan Eckley: A moment for a punter, if you please. This dude kicks ass. After delivering a stellar opening weekend, including a punt downed at the 1 yard line that led to a safety, Eckley shared with reporters this week that he hopes to score a touchdown before he leaves Michigan State. Touchdowns or not, the Spartan specialist continued being, in the words of his head coach, “a weapon.” Eckley punted three times, all for over 50 yards, with two downed inside the 20 — including one that bounced perfectly to die at the 1 yard line — and a long of 60. He’ll likely be up for the Ray Guy Award at the end of the season if he keeps it up, and eventually cash checks from an NFL franchise to keep booting the ball. 

Western Michigan run game, Jalen Buckley: Against North Texas in Week 2, Jalen Buckley ran like a guy who got bottled up in the opener. He carried the ball 30 times for 112 yards and caught two passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. He led the charge for a Western Michigan offense that had an express desire to run the ball and control the game. And his performance, behind an offensive line that head coach Lance Taylor said found an “edge” that he was happy to see, the Broncos seem to be on track to have the sort of ground game that’s propelled the offense in years past. 

Central Michigan’s 3 quarterback offense: There is simply nothing in college football quite like what Matt Drinkall is doing with his quarterbacks at Central Michigan, rotating starter Joe Labas with Angel Flores and Jadyn Glasser. And it’s ostensibly working, as the Chippewas are 1-1 with a win over San Jose State in the opener and a 45-17 loss at Pitt in Week 2, which was 24-17 in the third quarter. The Chippewas looked a little more advanced in the passing game in Week 2, and Drinkall played Glasser more, as promised. The offense left some things on the table, but this three quarterback offense continues to make Central Michigan more than a novelty, but a difficult offense to defend.

Functional

Broc Lowry: After Brady Jones started for the second straight week, Lowry entered the game for the third drive — earlier than his third quarter entrance in Week 1, as Taylor had hoped to do. And Lowry played the rest of the game, save for a Hail Mary toss at the end of regulation that Jones heaved. And Lowry provided what Taylor and Co. felt the offense needed to operate efficiently and to their game plan of grinding the game on the ground. And Lowry obliged, accounting for three touchdowns and marshalling a rushing attack that put up 225 yards. The lack of downfield passing (addressed later on) is notable, but 

Michigan run game: For the Wolverines, more than half of the rushing yards came one play — Justice Haynes’ 75 yard touchdown dash to start the third quarter — but those yards and score still count. And it’s more proof that Haynes can be a home run hitter. He finished with 125 yards on 19 carries and the touchdown. With 151 sack-adjusted rushing yards, the overall production isn’t eye-popping, but it helped keep Michigan in the game. The quarterback run game, or lack thereof, proved to be an X-factor.

Michigan State run game: For the Spartans, it was a similar story, churning out 177 sack-adjusted rushing yards and punching in a score on the ground via Chiles’ overtime keeper from three yards out. Chiles’ scrambling provided some of the more dangerous runs for the Spartans against the Eagles, and Makhi Frazier led the backfield with 17 carries for 81 yards. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was effective enough in a stirring win. And both teams have ample room to grow on the offensive line.

Michigan defense: With a different offensive performance to complement it, the Michigan defense played well enough for the Wolverines to win on Saturday night, holding the Sooners to 24 points, coming up with eight tackles for loss, two sacks and a turnover. Some more venom from the pass rush and a bit more soundness on the backend — as a number of new pieces in the secondary settle in early in the season — could both go a long way to boosting what this group can really do, and help it get off the field on third down. The Sooners went 9-of-17 on third downs and converted their lone fourth down try. 

Forgettable

Eastern Michigan defense: A week removed from giving up 606 yards on the road to what should be a fairly decent offense, the Eagles followed it up with a putrid showing in a 28-23 loss to FCS Long Island (and former EMU head coach Ron Cooper). The defense was particularly porous, giving up 231 yards rushing and all four scores on the ground at a 5.1 yard per carry clip. The defense also gave up receptions of 32, 34 and 74 yards as the LIU quarterbacks went 15-of-24 for 248 yards. Long Island also went 11-for-17 on third downs and possessed the ball for 37:53. The Eagles defense has lots of work to do to salvage itself.

Michigan's offensive play calling: Sherrone Moore, who hasn’t hesitated to call up double passes and gadget plays without pause in big games in recent years, didn’t show much aggression with Saturday’s offensive game plan against Oklahoma. And while Michigan didn’t get walloped, the Wolverines played a generally conservative style on offense that seemed designed to protect Bryce Underwood from making a critical mistake. No critical mistake was made, but the end product was an underwhelming offensive performance against a vicious Sooners defense. In an early season road game without much to lose, a bit more aggression could’ve benefitted the Wolverines. 

Bryce Underwood: This is less forgettable in the sense of being bad in any pronounced way, but more that the 9-of-24 passing performance for 142 yards with no scores and no turnovers is definitionally forgettable. Underwood didn’t do much, but also wasn’t asked to do much. He didn’t melt down or look overwhelmed by the Sooners defense, but he also certainly didn’t rise to the moment and start delivering game-altering plays. How much of his performance is related to the prior point about playcalling and game plan is a fair question, and the Sooners defense certainly made life difficult. And in the broader scheme, however disappointing Underwood’s performance was with respect to beating Oklahoma, he didn’t cost his team the game and it’s only really a failure if he doesn’t learn and grow from it. 

Michigan State pass defense: The Spartans won, but barely, and presented minimal resistance to Dylan Lonergan and the BC passing attack, as the signal caller racked up 390 passing yards and four touchdowns with no picks while completing 76 percent of his passes and going for 11.5 yards per completion. Lonergan’s four touchdowns went to four different targets, as he completed passes to eight players. From beginning to end, the Eagles passing schemes got players open for Lonergan, and a number of busts from the Spartans didn’t help. Improving health could boost this group, with plenty to clean up ahead of Week 3.