Michigan State QB Alessio Milivojevic shows poise and leadership in win over Toledo

Perhaps it wasn't the most impressive of wins, but Michigan State defeated Toledo 30-20 on Friday night to open the 2026 season with a victory and give Pat Fitzgerald his first win as head coach of the Spartans.

The Spartans raced out to a 13-0 lead in the early second quarter and led 19-7 at halftime. MSU scored on all five possessions in the first half (one touchdown and four field goals).

However, adversity hit MSU in the second half. The Rockets scored a touchdown in the third quarter when quarterback John Alan Richter connected with wide receiver Adjatay Dabbs in the end zone for the second time on the night (the first touchdown went for 60 yards and the second score was from six yards out). Toledo then put a scare into the Spartans early in the fourth quarter when the Rockets took a 20-19 lead after a 71-yard rushing touchdown by running back Connor Walendzak (the two-point conversion attempt failed).

MSU also dealt with various injuries throughout the game.

Michigan State responded by scoring the final 11 points of the game to put Toledo away. This included a touchdown pass from quarterback Alessio Milivojevic to wide receiver Rodney Bullard, a two-point conversion by the same duo, and a field goal by kicker Liam Boyd, who was the star of the night with five field goal makes. MSU's first touchdown of the night was scored by running back Cam Edwards.

It was far from a perfect performance for the Spartans. Milivojevic knows that. But, much like Fitzgerald, Milivojevic was proud of the way his team responded when the game was on the line. However, he was candid when discussing what the offense has to do to get better moving forward.

The red zone was one area where the Spartans struggled to finish drives, settling for field goals instead of touchdowns on multiple occasions. While MSU finished the game by scoring on all four of its red-zone possessions, only two of those trips ended in the end zone.

"One thing is, we for sure responded," Milivojevic said when asked what he thought about the offense's performance on Friday night. "There were ups and downs in the game ... We ended it great in the fourth quarter, but one thing I want to challenge us is just to finish those drives. We made it down in the red zone (often). I want to say we settled for field goals three times in the red zone (or close to it) in the first half alone. So, I think just overall, finishing those drives is gonna be huge for us. But I thought we moved the ball well, and I was just really proud of the guys up front. They played extremely hard, and they worked for us. I wasn't really surprised by it."

Fitzgerald complimented Milivojevic's play following the game, calling his signal-caller a "mature young quarterback."

Overcoming the setbacks

Michigan State had multiple players exit the game on Friday night, such as Edwards, running back Marvis Parrish, offensive tackle Ben Murawski, linebacker Jordan Hall and defensive tackle Ben Roberts. Some of the players were able to return, but other players stepped in for them and performed admirably.

Milivojevic praised the team's depth and mentality, and its ability to overcome challenges.

"I think it's just knowing that our preparation and 'next man up' mentality is gonna have to hold true because there's gonna be guys who cramp — especially in a humid game like this — there's gonna be guys who have little injuries here and there," Milivojevic noted. "But, it's just knowing that the next guy behind him is gonna do the same job as him just as good, or if not better. So knowing that we have that type of depth is gonna be huge for us going along because it's a long season at the end of the day."

Of course, there was also the adversity the Spartans faced on the field when the offense went stagnant for much of the second half and Toledo took a fourth-quarter lead.

Walendzak's long touchdown run gave Toledo a one-point advantage with 13:47 remaining in the game. Milivojevic and the MSU offense responded with a seven-play, 70-yard drive (that was assisted by a roughing the passer penalty on Toledo) to put the Spartans back in front. Milivojevic found Bullard on four different occasions on this possession, including a touchdown and two-point conversion. The touchdown play came on fourth-down-and-1.

The Spartans regained the lead at 27-20 with 10:37 remaining on the clock.

"I think it comes down to the process of coming off the field every single drive and just talking with Coach (offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan) and telling them what I saw," Milivojevic explained. "Watching the iPad, seeing what actually happened. And like Coach said, there was a lot of times where, OK, I did see what I was seeing. Maybe I didn't make the right throw or the right read, but I'm gonna go to the next play and get the next one back. So I think just overall going through that process was huge for me to help keep the entire offense composed and ready to go strike."

A dynamic duo and an honest assessment

Bullard formed a strong connection with Milivojevic against Toledo. He recorded seven receptions for a team-high 90 receiving yards and the aforementioned touchdown.

Milivojevic explains that his bond with Bullard goes back to the 2025 season when the two were practicing together with the second-stringers.

"Me and Rod, we practiced together last year with the twos," Milivojevic said about Bullard. "We were together a lot last year throwing together. Me and the entire receiver room (this year) have practiced a lot — just us alone without coaches there, just going to the facility, throwing routes, getting that timing down. So I think just overall, it just goes to (show) a testament of how hard they've worked and how they've really put their best foot forward every single day and worked really hard to get that connection with me."

In addition to the wide receivers, Milivojevic applauded the effort of Edwards, who rushed 27 times for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Milivojevic finished Friday night's game by completing 26 out of 34 passing attempts for 247 yards, with one touchdown and zero interceptions. In fact, the Spartans did not turn the ball over against the Rockets.

Regarding his own individual play, Milivojevic didn't mince words regarding the areas of his game he needs to improve upon as the 2026 campaign moves forward.

"All I'll say is I can be better overall," Milivojevic said when he was asked to grade his play. "Overall, I could be better. And then I think it's just goes back to — for me personally — taking what the defense gives me, (and) keeping the ball moving, which will then extend drives into touchdowns instead of field goals. And then overall as an offense, we just gotta finish. At the end of the day, I think, continuing to practice like we have, we're gonna end up finishing those drives."

Confidence was never lost

Even when Toledo took a brief lead in the final quarter of the game, Milivojevic never felt MSU was going to lose this game. There was never a time where the Spartans felt defeated or lost energy.

The Spartans, led by Milivojevic — who is one of six captains on the team — knew the game was still in their control.

"I think there was unwavering faith that we were gonna win that game," Milivojevic said. "I really never felt any time where the sideline dipped to nothing. I think the entire time we knew this is our game to lose, and we're gonna go out there and take it. So when they hit that (long touchdown) play, we rallied the troops, we went out, and we drove down and scored a touchdown. So, I think just overall, we're gonna continue to trust the defense and trust them to make stops, like they have to trust us to go score the ball."

Milivojevic admitted that things felt a little bit different in 2026 than things did in 2025 when the Spartans found themselves in an uncomfortable situation late in a game.

"It was awesome to see how we reacted," Milivojevic said about his team's response after falling behind to Toledo. "I think the energy was there the entire time, and yeah, it was good to see."

Fourth-down aggression

Michigan State converted two of its three fourth-down attempts on Friday night. The biggest one was on the touchdown pass from Milivojevic to Bullard in the fourth quarter to give the Spartans the lead back.

Caption: Alessio Milivojevic versus Toledo. Credit: Marvin Hall/Spartans Illustrated

A field goal would have given MSU the lead in that moment, but Fitzgerald was thinking it would take more than that. There was really no doubt the Spartans were going for it on fourth-and-1 from Toledo's 5-yard line. And the decision paid off.

"I told Coach, just trust me and trust that I'll make the right read and go get the first down," Milivojevic said. "So, I was very happy when we decided (to go for it). There was really no discussion. We knew we were going for it. We knew it was fourth-and-one. It was time to go win the game. So I was just very thankful that Coach trusted me to go make the play, and Rod (Bullard) did all the work, all I did was just put it in his hands."

MSU also would have had another fourth down conversion on the record when Milivojevic took a quarterback sneak past the line of gain in the first quarter, but an offsides penalty on Toledo gave the Spartans a first down anyway.

Michigan State was also stopped on a fourth-and-1 play on a run by Edwards in the early part of the fourth quarter.

Fitzgerald mentioned that the Spartans will be aggressive on fourth-and-short situations.

Michigan State will look to carry momentum into its next matchup versus Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 12 (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Big Ten Network).