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Overheard outside Michigan State locker room: Fighting back with meat still on the bone
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Overheard outside Michigan State locker room: Fighting back with meat still on the bone

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – For the second straight week, Michigan State found itself in a deciding game late in the fourth quarter.

This time the Spartans did not hold on to the win to avoid a surprise, but managed to force one anyway.

Michigan State (2-0, 1-0 Big Ten) scored 10 points in the final five minutes, including a game-winning 37-yard field goal by Jonathan Kim with one second left, to secure a 27-24 victory at Maryland (1-1, 0-1) on Saturday.

Here are some notable quotes from coach Jonathan Smith and players after the win:

“Hopefully it gives some confidence and resilience so that it’s not over until we start showing zeros and have the capacity to finish the games.”

– Smith on the Spartans striving for victory on foreign soil.

“Hard fought victory, we put points on the board this time. I can’t really complain today.”

– Quarterback Aidan Chiles completed 24 of 39 passes for 363 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

“We’ve got a lot of cleanup to do on offense, Aidan included. I think a couple of those interceptions are just his footwork. He’s got to get it right, he was just inaccurate on a couple of them. There’s a learning curve, but the kid’s resilient. Aidan kept coming back.”

– Smith on how Chiles recovered from a disappointing first start last week and the setback on Saturday.

“It was a big moment for me. I feel like this is my game, this is who I am. Just being able to score at that moment, that’s who I am.”

– Wide receiver Nick Marsh with his 77-yard touchdown catch that tied the game in the fourth quarter. The true freshman finished with eight grabs for 194 yards.

“He is more mature than his age suggests.”

– Smith on Marsh, a former four-star recruit who has played in just two college games.

“I didn’t play scared. Last week I lied to myself, I told myself I wasn’t scared. I was, it is what it is. … Today I came out with the mentality of taking a deep breath and going hunting.”

– Chiles on the difference between his first career start last week and his performance on Saturday.

“They were great, especially in the first half, on third down, to continue those drives.”

– Smith on Maryland converting its first five attempts on third down and making 11 of 17 attempts overall.

“We were in a tough situation where we had to bounce back and fight to win. It was just nice to see that we came together, even when it looked dark, and came out on top.”

– Linebacker Jordan Turner on his fight for the win.

“We’ve got to get better in the run game. We’ve got the potential to do more. … There’s still meat on the bones there and we’ve got to keep working on it.”

– Smith on the Spartans finishing with 130 rushing yards on 30 attempts.

“We did what we had to do to get the job done. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but we came here, played as a team and fought until the end and we came out on top.”

– Linebacker Cal Haladay on the win.

“It was a little late to identify how serious it was. It’s long-lasting, you probably won’t see it again this year.”

– Smith on starting right guard Kristian Phillips’ injury last week, which caused him to miss Saturday’s game.