Fitzgerald era kicks off tonight against Toledo
Pat Fitzgerald's first game as Michigan State's coach arrives Friday night with Alessio Milivojevic entrenched at quarterback and Toledo, coached by 94-23 veteran Mike Jacobs, standing in the way.
Fitzgerald: 'When you have a quarterback you've got a chance'
Pat Fitzgerald opened his first fall camp in East Lansing on August 6 by telling his team, per Football Scoop, "There's a difference between rules and standards. Rules are for people who can't follow directions. Standards are for people who aspire to do special things." A month later, with kickoff tonight against Toledo, he's not dodging the size of the moment: "I think pressure is a privilege. I really do. I think that means you're prepared for an opportunity," he said this week, adding there's "definitely a different buzz in the air" with students back on campus, per The State News.
The quarterback conversation was never really one — redshirt sophomore Alessio Milivojevic, who went 111-of-173 for 1,267 yards with 10 touchdowns against 3 interceptions across 9 games after taking over last season, was simply handed the job, with no portal arm brought in to challenge him. Fitzgerald's read on him this week: "He's done a terrific job all offseason. First from a leadership standpoint, then from a work ethic standpoint. We have really pushed Alessio, and he's come along with every step." Milivojevic sounds just as settled: "I feel very confident and comfortable in the offense. Knowing the command, the feel of the offense," he said, before pointing to a receiver room he thinks "goes 6, 7 deep."
The buzz Fitzgerald mentioned showed up on the school's own account this week too, with Spartan Stadium's seats going up in stripes ahead of tonight — the kind of gameday theater East Lansing hasn't had much reason to bother with in a while. Milivojevic was blunter about what the opener actually means after a summer spent hitting his own defense in practice: "The desire to get out there, we're excited to go out there and hit someone other than our own team."
Last season ended on the only high note it had
Michigan State finished last season at 4-8 and 1-8 in Big Ten play, with the final five games alone going Michigan L 20-31, Minnesota L 20-23, Penn State L 10-28, Iowa L 17-20 and finally Maryland W 38-28 to snap an eight-game losing streak. That Maryland finale on November 30 doubled as the last game of Jonathan Smith's tenure — Michigan State fired him the same day, closing out a 9-15 run that had opened 3-0 before the Big Ten schedule buried it.
It's the one result from a lost season a fan can point to and smile about, and it's also the last data point anybody has on this roster before Fitzgerald's staff puts its own stamp on it tonight. A 38-point output against Maryland is not nothing heading into an opener — it's the most recent evidence that whatever offense returns has some juice in it, even if the coach calling it is now someone else entirely.
Toledo brings a 94-23 coach and a loaded portal class to East Lansing
Toledo isn't walking into East Lansing as a guaranteed win, and the two programs haven't even met in over a century, per a matchup preview from TheOnlyColors.com. The Rockets, picked third in the MAC preseason coaches poll, are coming off an 8-5 season that ended in the Boca Raton Bowl, and they handed the job to Mike Jacobs, who arrives with a 94-23 record across 10 seasons as a head coach — including a 20-6 mark and back-to-back FCS playoff appearances in his last 2 seasons at Mercer.
They bring back four offensive linemen with starting experience and what 247Sports called the MAC's top transfer portal class — 11 players who carried all-conference honors at their previous schools, headlined by 2025 FCS Defensive Player of the Year Andrew Zock, who racked up 20 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks last season. Fitzgerald has framed the matchup as a scouting problem more than a talent gap: "I think we're kind of mirrors of each other. First-year head coaches, both with 50-plus new players," he said this week, before junior quarterback John Alan Richter, who has thrown for 699 yards and 7 touchdowns across the past 2 seasons, gets his first look at a Big Ten defense.
Spartans open as double-digit favorites for kickoff
Michigan State opened as a 10.5-point favorite for tonight's game, with the total set at 49.5 — a number that reads more low-scoring than shootout for a Week 1 matchup between 2 staffs installing new systems in front of a home crowd. Toledo's only recent line for comparison is a 22-27 loss at Louisville last season, while Michigan State's coaches have had all fall camp to find out what Milivojevic can do behind an offense they're still building around him.
Kickoff is tonight vs. Toledo, and whatever else this week has been about — the buzz, the quotes, the stripes going up in the stadium — it comes down to whether Fitzgerald's first game looks anything like the standard he's been selling since August 6.