The Heartland Line
Michigan State QB Alessio Milivojevic: 'No one is waving the white flag'
Alessio Milivojevic helped Michigan State come back from 16 points down against Illinois and says the Spartans aren't giving up on the season.
Michigan State quarterback Alessio Milivojevic says the Spartans have not given up on their season. He spoke a day after he helped lead a second-half rally against Illinois at Spartan Stadium, where Michigan State came back from a 16-point deficit and forced overtime.
Milivojevic talked about the comeback, the Spartans' aggressive approach against the Fighting Illini and the team's mindset going forward, according to On3's Jason Killop. His message about the locker room was blunt: "No one is waving the white flag," Milivojevic told On3.
The Saturday game against Illinois ended in overtime on FS1. Much of the talk afterward was about a late two-point attempt, which On3 covered both in Milivojevic's comments and in a separate story on head coach Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald called the decision to go for two an easy one, a sign that this staff is willing to take risks to swing a game. Milivojevic's comments suggest the players are on board with that approach.
The rally is the most encouraging stretch of a hard season for Michigan State. The Spartans entered the weekend at 2-4. They spent the first half chasing Illinois and then wiped out a two-score-plus deficit after halftime. On3's coverage noted progress on offense, and that matters for a team trying to find an identity in the middle of the year. Milivojevic was at the center of the second-half push. That gives the coaching staff a reason to build around what worked late against Illinois.
The hard part is turning that effort into results. A comeback that forces overtime shows the team is still fighting, but the standings don't count fight. With the season half over, Michigan State's room for error in the Big Ten is shrinking every week. That is why Milivojevic's point about refusing to give in matters as much as anything that happened on the field.
Next up is another chance to back up those words at home. Michigan State hosts Northwestern next Saturday, and the market expects a hard day for the Spartans. On Novig, one of the venues pricing the game, Northwestern is favored at -335, and Michigan State is getting 9.5 points on the spread. The best sportsbook price on the Wildcats is -350 at BetMGM. Full prices are on the Northwestern at Michigan State odds page.
Those numbers show how far apart the two programs look right now. Michigan State will need to play a full four quarters rather than one strong half. Against Illinois, the Spartans fell behind early and spent most of the afternoon catching up. Doing that again against a Northwestern team favored by more than a touchdown would leave little margin.
What Michigan State carries into the week is a quarterback who sounds sure of his teammates, a coach willing to gamble, and a second half that showed what the offense can do. Next Saturday will show whether that carries over to a full game.
