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Michigan State

V-Cast: Winless in Big Ten play after six games, is Michigan State moving closer to a coaching change?

On3 imageby: Paul Konyndyk11/02/25PKonyndyk
V-Cast - Minnesota

Michigan State made a change at quarterback, giving Alessio Milivojevic his first career start, and the redshirt freshman gave the Spartans a much-needed spark on offense with accurate passing in the face of a Minnesota pass rush that was at times overwhelming. Despite that spark, the Spartans were unable to break free from a Big Ten losing that streak that extended to six games with a 23-20 overtime loss.

After yet another loss in what appeared to be a winnable game for Michigan State, it is becoming increasingly difficult for embattled second-year Spartan coach Jonathan Smith to demonstrate that this program is moving in the direction it needs to move to move beyond the mediocrity for four straight seasons without a bow game.

In the wake of the latest setback for the Michigan State football program, SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk discuss the potential ramification of this loss in the V-Cast.

V-CAST TOPICS

Milivojevic impresses in debut as starting QB: Redshirt freshman Alessio Milivojevic did his part to put Michigan State in position to win a game against a team in its peer group. Not only did Milivojevic throw for 300 plus yards in this game, but he did so while completing more than 70 percent of his passes and without throwing an interception. Not only did Milivojevic give Michigan State the accuracy and consistency that had been lacking at times during the first eight games of the season, he did it without adequate pass protection. Despite getting sacked seven times against Minnesota, Milivojevic continued to stand in the pocket and deliver accurate passes. Making a QB change nine games into the season may not extend the grace period for Smith and his coaching staff given the mood of a fanbase that is growing increasingly restless. But based on early returns, Milivojevic may give Michigan State it’s best chance to win with three games remaining in the season. Milivojevic, however, is not the first Spartan quarterback to throw for 300 yards this season. Aidan Chiles has two 300-yard passing games to his credit on the year. Inconsistency in performance, however, from one game to the next ultimately led to change in the starting lineup at quarterback. It remains to be seen if Milivojevic will be able to build on a productive first start moving forward. In order to do so, he will have to overcome problematic pass protection, which will be difficult to fix during the final month of the season.

Smith hasn’t lost his team, but will he keep the job? Jonathan Smith was not hired by Michigan State athletic director J Batt or university president Kevin Guskiewicz. And while the Spartan donor base has not begun publicly stumping for a change in leadership at the top of the Michigan State football program, it does not appear that Smith has support necessary to ride out the current storm without real proof of growth as a football program from last year to this. With dwindling opportunities to demonstrate that progress is being made toward Michigan State reasserting itself as a winning program, it is reasonable to wonder if Smith will have a third year at the helm of Spartan football.

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