Michigan State's Ghastly Run Game Performance against Indiana

Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles had a 64-yard rush during the Spartans' 38-13 loss at No. 3 Indiana on Saturday. His team finished with 74 rushing yards.

MSU cannot run the ball at all right now. With a game coming up against No. 25 Michigan, a team that is going to do everything it can to dominate that phase of the game in the trenches, that has to change. So let's look at the numbers from the game against IU and why it may have looked like that.

Box Score

Oct 18, 2025; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Brandon Tullis (7) is tackled by Indiana Hoosiers linebacker Rolijah Hardy (21) and defensive back Louis Moore (7) during the first half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Aidan Chiles (QB): eight attempts, 48 yards

Elijah Tau-Tolliver: five attempts, 13 yards

Alessio Milivojevic (QB): two attempts, nine yards

Brandon Tullis: two attempts, three yards

Makhi Frazier: seven attempts, one yard

Total: 24 attempts, 74 yards, 0 TD, 3.1 average

Analysis

Michigan State's Elijah Tau-Tolliver celebrates his touchdown against Youngstown State during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's probably a sign that things did not go very well when the backup quarterback has more rushing yards than the top two running backs combined.

Michigan State could never get anything going consistently against the Hoosiers' front seven. With Chiles' long, outlier scamper and sacks filtered out, the Spartans only had 42 rushing yards on 19 attempts. That's just 2.2 yards per carry.

The Spartans only had two rushes of at least 10 yards all game, and both were from quarterbacks; one for Chiles (64 yards) and one for Milivojevic (11 yards).

As for the running backs, MSU only got 17 yards on 14 carries. That's 1.2 per pop.

Why It Happened

Michigan State's Makhi Frazier, center, is tackled by UCLA after a gain during the first quarter on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Like so much in football, it comes back to the offensive line. Pro Football Focus gave Michigan State's men up front a 45.5 run blocking grade against Indiana, the lowest since... Indiana last year (44.1).

This season, MSU is averaging 123.0 rushing yards per game. That's all the way down at 106th nationally and 14th in the Big Ten.

In fairness, this is partially due to circumstances outside of anyone's control. The Spartans are currently without three offensive linemen who have started at some point this year for them due to injury. MSU will get starting left tackle Stanton Ramil eventually, but it has to do without guard Luka Vincic and tackle Ashton Lepo for the remainder of the year.

Depth on the offensive line seemed like it might be a strength for Michigan State headed into the season. The unit already wasn't necessarily playing great while at full strength, and it certainly hasn't done so since its depth began getting tested.

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