USC Game Marks Homecoming Opportunity for MSU's Aidan Chiles

Aidan Chiles hasn't played in a game like this before. Michigan State's junior starting quarterback is getting an opportunity to play near his hometown of Long Beach, California, when the Spartans travel to the West Coast to face No. 25 USC on Saturday night.

He's been in the same conference as both the Trojans and UCLA his entire career --- one year at Oregon State in the Pac-12 and now two at MSU in the Big Ten.

He's never faced USC at all and played a home game against the Bruins while at OSU, where he actually threw a touchdown pass to now-Spartan tight end Jack Velling. The schedules hadn't aligned yet for Chiles to play in front of many different people who aren't able to travel from Long Beach to Corvallis, Oregon, or East Lansing, Michigan.

Nov 4, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Oregon State Beavers quarterback Aidan Chiles (0) drops back for a pass during the game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Chet Strange-Imagn Images | Chet Strange-Imagn Images

"I'm letting my mom take care of all the tickets and everything," Chiles said about how he's handling the large contingent of people coming to watch him play. "All my people are from California, so it's not something that I really need to worry about. It's just another distraction."

The tight schedule that comes with a road game that's more than 2,000 miles away from Spartan Stadium will mean that Chiles can't really see or talk to everyone. He had a message for them (and also Spartan fans in general).

"Let's just make the whole stadium green, man," he said. "That's really all I got to see. We've got a lot of people coming to the game. Let's green out the stadium."

Growth from Last Year

Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles celebrates with fans after the Spartans' 42-40 victory over Boston College | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on S

For Chiles' return home to result in a victory, a lot of it might be on his back. That's not necessarily a bad thing; his passing yards through three games compared to last year are basically the same, but his completion percentage is up, as is his number of passing touchdowns and rushing yards. The turnovers are down, too.

MSU is also really going to need to score some points, as well. USC is first nationally in total offense (604 yards per game) and second in scoring (55 points per game).

Respect for USC

Sep 13, 2025; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley stands on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Chiles was also quick to give respect to the program that he was in the backyard of. The Trojans didn't recruit him coming out of high school, but Chiles said they made an effort at him when he entered the transfer portal from Oregon State.

"Great history, just a great program in general," Chiles said when asked about his thoughts on USC. "A lot of great guys came out of there. They're a good football team. Can't say much about it. Great coach, everything."

Chiles' big game against USC kicks off at 11 p.m. ET on FOX. Following that, MSU will head into a bye week.

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