After a lifeless 31-20 loss to Michigan a week ago in East Lansing, Jonathan Smith knew he needed to make some changes to end the five-game losing streak.
The second-year head coach who’s been on the hot seat for the past few weeks announced on Saturday afternoon during an appearance on a pre-game radio show that he has made a big-time change that could breathe some life into the offense.
Smith announced that Alessio Milivojevic will be the Spartans’ starting quarterback on Saturday.
Michigan State will start a new quarterback today at Minnesota, as the school confirms Alessio Milivojevic will get his first career start ahead of Aidan Chiles.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 1, 2025
This will be the first career start for Milivojevic who replaces Aidan Chiles after his rough performance against the Wolverines last weekend. He came in for Chiles at the end of that game and led a late touchdown drive to pull the Spartans within 11.
The coaching staff has shown confidence in Milivojevic all season and even in the preseason. Smith told the media that he trusted Alessio as the backup and wouldn’t be worried if he had to rely on him at some point throughout the season. Well, that some point has come a little unexpectedly on Saturday as the redshirt freshman will be getting his opportunity.
On the year, Milivojevic has passed for 281 yards and three touchdowns and he did have one interception on his first pass attempt of the season. Since then, he’s attempted 36 passes, with 22 completions, with no turnovers.
Smith admitted that the quarterback is not the lone problem, but he feels that Milivojevic could provide a spark for the offense on Saturday. We’ll see if that comes to fruition.