Alessio Milivojevic Proves He Can Be the One to Lead Michigan State

Calm, cool and collected.

What else can you say about No. 11 for the Michigan State Spartans?

Alessio Milivojevic entered his first opening-day game as a starter with four career starts already under his belt.

Those four starts came during the 2026 season, when the Spartans’ hopes had already faded away like they had been snapped out of existence by Thanos. With little left to play for, “Les,” as his teammates call him, was able to take the field without the pressure that comes with trying to keep an entire season alive.

This time, it was different.

Now it’s 2027, and Les has the keys to the car.

He’s driving a team full of hungry players who have been waiting for their opportunity to be unleashed on the college football world.

It’s a daunting task for any quarterback, especially one taking over the offense of a program looking to turn the page.

Yet Milivojevic came out in Michigan State’s season opener with nothing but poise.

At first glance, it may have looked like a lot of shorter passes and gradual progress through the Toledo defense. But that was exactly how new Michigan State offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan appeared to have drawn it up.

The Spartans came out with a vanilla offensive game plan, allowing their talent to win against a MAC opponent that Michigan State should be able to handle regardless of how talented Toledo may be.

Milivojevic executed that plan almost to perfection.

He fired on all cylinders early, consistently finding open receivers and getting the ball out of his hands quickly. He didn’t force the ball down the field, instead taking what the defense gave him and pushing the ball vertically when the opportunity presented itself.

Between the 20s, Les was golden.

There is still work to do in the red zone, however.

Michigan State failed to turn too many promising drives into touchdowns, leaving the Spartans settling for field goals when they should have been staring down the barrel of paydirt. Building trust with his receivers in those tighter spaces will be one of the biggest areas for Milivojevic and the offense to improve.

Still, overall, it was an impressive opening performance.

Milivojevic finished the night with a 147.2 passer rating, completing 26 of 34 passes for 247 yards and a go-ahead touchdown to Rodney Bullard late in the fourth quarter.

And as the game progressed, so did the passing attack.

The ball began to travel farther and faster, with Milivojevic doing an excellent job of valuing all of his pass catchers. He spread the ball around to seven different players, including four wide receivers, two tight ends and a running back.

That’s exactly what Michigan State needs from its quarterback.

Les is beginning to find his security blankets while also showing the confidence to fire passes into tight windows. He plays with a bit of a gunslinger mentality, though, and there were a few occasions when he forced throws that could have turned into costly mistakes had the Toledo defense capitalized.

Fortunately for Michigan State, those mistakes never came back to haunt him.

Instead, Milivojevic delivered when the Spartans needed him most.

He capped the 2026 season with a win — Michigan State’s lone conference victory of the year — and carried that momentum directly into 2027 by leading the Spartans to a season-opening victory Friday night.

There is still plenty of work to be done.

But if Friday night was any indication, Michigan State may finally have the quarterback it has been searching for.

Milivojevic’s ability to quickly scan a defense, make a decision and get the ball to the right target is something Spartans fans have been dying to see since the days of Connor Cook.

And after one game, Les looks more than ready to take the wheel.