EAST LANSING – Pat Fitzgerald emphatically expressed his view that Michigan State football’s spring showcase should only be looked at as one practice of 15.
He’s not wrong. It looked and felt like April in every way.
There was no tackling, only thudding. There was constant rotation of first, second and third units. And there only were a smattering of fans – around 5,000 or so, give or take – who braved the cold, windy, damp midday event on Saturday, April 18, as the Red Cedar River overflowed from flooding a little more than a football field away from Spartan Stadium.
There were, however, some things to glean from the public unveiling of Fitzgerald’s team that goes into hibernation from now until preseason camp begins in early August before the Sept. 5 opener at home against Toledo.
Michigan State QB pecking order
There isn’t a question that Alessio Milivojevic is MSU’s starting quarterback. And not just because he took the first-team snaps – Fitzgerald anointed the third-year sophomore as his QB1.
“’Less is our starter,” Fitzgerald said, “and we’re excited that he is. And we’re looking forward to him leading the program.”
Still, Milivojevic remains in the nascent developmental stages as a quarterback despite starting the final four games – including three losses before winning the finale against Maryland to close out the Spartans’ 4-8 season. He completed 64.2% of his 173 passes for 1,267 yards in nine games last season with 10 touchdowns to three interceptions in four starts and nine appearances but also was sacked 16 times, including seven times in his starting debut against Minnesota.
That trend continued Saturday, even though there was no hitting the quarterback or tackling to the ground. Milivojevic was tagged down on the first possession of the scrimmage portion of the showcase, and he also checked down to receivers frequently. When he did attempt to stretch the field, Milivojevic’s underthrow to wide receiver Charles Taplin was easily picked off by cornerback NiJhay Burt. Granted, it is April and the playbook was extremely limited for the public practice, but his downfield accuracy bears watching and is a critical component in his growth heading into his first full-time season as the starter.
The backup job behind Milivojevic also bears monitoring. Sixth-year grad transfer Cam Fancher also tried to stretch the field on the next play after Milivojevic’s interception, and it sailed right to safety Aveon Grose. True freshman Kayd Coffman flashed big-arm potential and mobility as the No. 3 quarterback, and he already is ahead of redshirt freshman Leo Hannan in the depth chart.
Holding the line
Along with the 16 sacks of Milivojevic last year, the Spartans’ offensive line gave up 21 more with since-departed starter Aidan Chiles. Their 37 sacks allowed were the 12th-most in the 134-team Football Bowl Subdivision and continued an ongoing trend of porous blocking that has plagued MSU since the final few years under Mark Dantonio.
Fitzgerald mined the portal and appears to have added three new starters in massive left backle Ben Murawski, left guard Nick Sharpe and center Trent Fraley. Conner Moore, a portal addition last year, started at right guard next to holdover Rakeem Johnson at right tackle. With another 2025 starter out in guard/center Luka Vincic, only transfer tackle Robert Wright Jr. got extensive backup work with the first unit.
Sharpe looked quick and athletic in pulling to deliver a big lead block on running back transfer Kenneth Williams’ 67-yard scoring run, the only touchdown among nearly 100 plays during the scrimmage portion. But MSU will need to stay healthy and accelerate the development of young second-teamers such as guard Andrew Dennis and tackles Rustin Young and Eli Bickel before the rigors of Big Ten play begin.
Limited opinions
It really is hard to discern how much better one side of the ball looks than the other right now, particularly because Fitzgerald and the two players MSU made available, Milivojevic and linebacker Jordan Hall, both said how both the offense and defense have taken turns with an advantage during the other 14 practice sessions. And also because it is guesswork without live tackling and defenders pulling up to avoid contact.
Hall remains the lynchpin on defense at middle linebacker, but the cast around the senior has changed dramatically since his freshman year in 2023. With Brady Pretzlaff sitting out Saturday, Hall was flanked by Auburn transfer Caleb Wheatland as starters and Buffalo transfer Dion Crawford and former preferred walk-on Chris Piwowarczk as the second unit. Keep an eye out there for second-generation Spartan Adam Shaw, a true freshman who also got second-team reps.
MSU continues to look stout in the interior front of returning coordinator Joe Rossi’s defense, with three holdovers in Ben Roberts, Derrick Simmons and Mikeshun Beeler being joined by Illinois transfer Eli Coenen at defensive tackle. Defensive end was completely overhauled, with transfers Keahnist Thompson and Kenny Soares Jr. getting the first-team look in front of young returnees Luke DeJager and Cal Thrush.
Safety Nikai Martinez is back in an otherwise equally retooled secondary. Around him with the starting group, fellow safety Devin Vaught, nickelback Michael Richards and cornerbacks Tre Bell and Tyran Chappell all are first-year transfers. Keep an eye on true freshman safety Jonathan Granby, who got work Saturday with the second team defense.
But until there is an actual opponent – defensive players were able to easily diagnose and call out offensive plays based on formation and personnel they saw over the past month – anything that happened Saturday should quickly be forgotten.
Not so special
Kickers Liam Boyd and Tarik Ahmetbasic struggled, even though there was no oncoming rush during the special teams portion.
Boyd, a multischool transfer most recently from Charlotte, missed twice while making three field goals. Ahmetbasic, a walk-on who was in competition with since-departed Martin Connington last year, also missed twice. Fitzgerald made improving in the kicking game a point of emphasis during his post-practice interview, particularly because MSU will “have to win in the margins, like everybody in the Big Ten.”
Energy levels
One thing Fitzgerald has tried to do is improve the excitement levels within his program first, then let it spread to fans. Milivojevic said it is important for players to enjoy football, and Fitzgerald tries to keep it lively – hence him holding an end-of-practice contest Saturday that involved a relay race with players spinning around a plastic baseball bat, with the last man having to eat a hot dog that awaited in the end zone.
Those things help pass time and accelerate team bonding during a long spring. But things get far more serious from here out.
Yet the energized vibe, which has been evident even with practices throughout the spring starting before daybreak, showed on the field before that during the scrimmage portion. Hall delivered a hard lick at one point that knocked an opposing receiver to the ground. Defensive coaches and players celebrated every stop, and the offense dashed to the end zone to celebrate Williams’ long TD run.
Spring always has been a building block for what’s to come. Only time will tell if Fitzgerald’s methodology in team building and roster construction will get MSU back to a bowl game for the first time since 2021.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 5 Michigan State football spring game observations
Reporting by Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
