Michigan State Football Top 30 Players Countdown: No. 6
In this story:
It’s a new era for Michigan State football in many ways. That includes the quarterback position.
Alessio Milivojevic is perhaps the first player Pat Fitzgerald worked to retain when the Spartans’ new head coach arrived in East Lansing. MSU’s new QB1 was there for Fitzgerald’s introductory press conference that was held just days after the conclusion of the 2025 season, and there never seemed to be much doubt about where Milivojevic would play in 2026.
Gauging Milivojevic’s Stock
I’m more bullish on Milivojevic than most. Several national media members have Milivojevic towards the bottom of their Big Ten or Power Four quarterback rankings. ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked Milivojevic as the No. 64 starting quarterback (out of 68) in the Power Four back in March. CBS’s Tom Fornelli had Milivojevic as the second-worst starting quarterback in the Big Ten in March, too.
I don’t necessarily blame either of them for having Milivojevic so low. The national media’s focus last November, while Milivojevic was playing, was certainly not on Michigan State. Not only were the Spartans not close to a bowl game, let alone the CFP, but none of the four teams Milivojevic played against were close to contending status, either.
What was probably Milivojevic’s most-watched start was the game against Penn State, which was nationally televised on CBS. That was the least inspiring of Milivojevic’s starts in 2025, as he threw for just 128 yards with no touchdowns during a 28-10 home loss to the Nittany Lions. If I were somebody who had to cover college football as a whole, rather than just one team, that performance would draw a giant shrug from me.
Milivojevic has shown, though, that he is hardly going to be the fifth-worst Power Four starter or second-worst Big Ten quarterback this fall. He threw for at least 255 yards in his other three starts last season. Milivojevic also threw for seven touchdowns compared to just two interceptions as a starter.
Former starter Aidan Chiles, who is above Milivojevic on both of those previously mentioned lists, only did that four times across his 20 starts at MSU. The only time he hit 250+ yards last year was against Youngstown State, an FCS team. He averaged 190.4 yards per start during his two seasons in East Lansing.
There is a reason why Fitzgerald didn’t go out and get a transfer portal quarterback. Milivojevic essentially got his audition to be the Spartans’ full-time starter at the end of the 2025 season, and he’s hardly going to be the starter for Michigan State by default this year.
Breaking Down Milivojevic’s Starts
Before Milivojevic became the starter, he got off to a real rocky start in game action. The first two passes of his collegiate career were both intercepted. His only pass as a true freshman in 2024 was intercepted against Rutgers, and Milivojevic threw a pick-six against Western Michigan during last year’s season opener.
Milivojevic bounced back from that, though. Michigan State fans got plenty of looks at him as a backup, as the Spartans would often put Chiles on the bench because he was either hurt or it was the end of a blowout loss. Milivojevic kept taking advantage of those mop-up opportunities. He led late scoring drives against Nebraska, UCLA, Indiana, and Michigan, and the conversation grew outside the football building about whether Milivojevic should be the starter.
Clearly, the conversation grew inside the building as well. Whether it was because MSU needed a change of pace at quarterback, the previous coaching staff saw some writing on the wall with a 3-5 record and were a bit desperate, or if Milivojevic had legitimately just passed Chiles up, Milivojevic got the starting nod against Minnesota.
It came during a loss, but Milivojevic racked up 311 passing yards and one touchdown. The most impressive thing about it was Milivojevic doing that with some extremely poor offensive line play in front of him. He was sacked seven times that day against the Golden Gophers, but remained tough and surprisingly poised for a redshirt freshman making his first career college start.
Start No. 2 was that 128-yard game against Penn State. What certainly did not help was that Michigan State hardly had the ball that day, totaling only 22:41 in time of possession. The Spartans also only ran a season-low 49 offensive plays that day.
Part of that is on Milivojevic for not keeping the chains moving, but the offensive line play was still pretty bad. He was sacked four times and pressured 22 times that day, while notching only 27 pass attempts. MSU’s defense also allowed a nine-minute touchdown drive during the fourth quarter. The number of quarterbacks who would have succeeded that day is quite low.
Milivojevic then threw for 255 yards and a pair of touchdowns the next week against Iowa. There was an interception in there, but it was during a fourth down with less than 10 seconds to go in the first half. It was ultimately inconsequential to the game's final result. Both of Milivojevic’s passing scores that day were to Chrishon McCray, who will probably be his favorite target this fall.
The season finale against Maryland might have been Milivojevic’s best. He threw for 292 yards and four touchdowns to just one interception during Michigan State’s first and only Big Ten win last season.
The pick that week certainly mattered; Milivojevic threw off his back foot (thanks to some pressure), and his throw meant for Nick Marsh was pretty easily undercut by the Maryland defender. This was also with three minutes to go, while MSU had the ball in field-goal range and held a three-point lead. Milivojevic made up for it shortly afterward, though, by delivering a touchdown over the middle to Omari Kelly on a fourth-and-seven that sealed the win.
Overall, the body of work is still pretty impressive, especially given the circumstances of a lost season and poor offensive line play. With a new-look offensive line in front of him and some experience under his belt now, Milivojevic should at least be an average Big Ten quarterback this year if the receivers pull their weight.
There is a real shot for Milivojevic to leave a positive legacy in East Lansing, with a program poised to only go up from here and with eligibility that runs through the 2028 season. Fitzgerald isn’t hitching his wagon to Milivojevic the same way Jonathan Smith did with Chiles, but it’s hard to get a program back off the ground without quality quarterback play. If Milivojevic clicks, everything else becomes so much easier to follow.
Other Top 30 Articles
No. 30, WR Samson Gash | No. 29, WR Charles Taplin | No. 28, S Devin Vaught | No. 27, KR Kenneth Williams | No. 26, OL Luka Vincic | No. 25, OL Rakeem Johnson | No. 24, CB Tyran Chappell | No. 23, DL Derrick Simmons | No. 22, TE Carson Gulker | No. 21, WR KK Smith
No. 20, DL Eli Coenen | No. 19, OL Nick Sharpe | No. 18, LB Caleb Wheatland | No. 17, RB Marvis Parrish | No. 16, DB Michael Richard | No. 15, EDGE Anelu Lafaele | No. 14, P Rhys Dakin | No. 13, LB Dion Crawford | No. 12, C Trent Fraley | No. 11, DL Ben Roberts
No. 10, CB Tre Bell | No. 9, OL Conner Moore | No. 8, EDGE Kenny Soares Jr. | No. 7, WR Chrishon McCray
Watch/Listen to our Daily Podcast
Add us as a preferred source on Google
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
Follow jacobcotsonika