EAST LANSING – Alessio Milivojevic took a knee to run out the clock. Wide receiver Rodney Bullard Jr. gave his quarterback a quick hug and pat on the helmet.
It was a victorious opener for Michigan State football
thanks a few big plays by that duo. Yet the Spartans’ offense struggled to find the end zone for much of their 30-20 victory over Toledo on Friday, Sept. 4, despite giving themselves plenty of opportunities to score more.Eliminating the “self-inflicted wounds,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said, is among the primary fixes for his new team between game 1 and 2.
“We gotta finish drives,” Fitzgerald said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “The football gods
will not allow you to kick field goals and win a lot of games the way we just did.”
The Spartans, 1-0 in the Fitzgerald regime, will host Eastern Michigan (1-1) on Saturday (3:30 p.m, Big Ten Network). The Eagles won their opener, but lost to another set of Spartans, from San Jose State, on Friday.
MSU at the outset of Friday's game did a lot of the things Fitzgerald wanted, particularly with his offensive line, which controlled the Rockets during an impressive opening drive. That debut possession went 13 plays and took 7 minutes, 14 seconds, culminating in a Cam Edwards 2-yard touchdown run on a direct snap.
But the Spartans sputtered after that, despite finishing with a dominating 43:16-16:44 time of possession advantage.
On the next drive, Milivojevic’s third-down throw from Toledo’s 14 to the back left corner went through Bullard’s hands, setting up the first of five Liam Boyd field goals. A critical holding call on left guard Conner Moore stunted the following possession after MSU’s defense set the offense up in Toledo territory with a Kenny Soares Jr. interception. Again, Boyd rescued them with a 42-yarder following a loss of 2 yards on a Jaziun Patterson run and another Milivojevic incompletion.
Milivojevic got sacked on the next drive, which again began on the Rockets’ side of the field courtesy a 47-yard kickoff return by Kenneth Williams. The sophomore quarterback’s screen to Edwards was smothered on second down, and the drive halted at the Toledo 30 on another incomplete pass. Boyd booted a 48-yarder.
Then a fourth straight drive fizzled with 18 seconds left before halftime when right tackle Rakeem Johnson got flagged for a hold on third-and-goal from the Toledo 3 after a pair of Edwards runs. Milivojevic took another sack as he tried to escape pressure but tripped on left tackle Ben Murawski’s foot. Boyd finished the half with his fourth field goal.
Five possessions, five scores, a 19-7 lead. But the Spartans left as many as 20 points on the field.
“One thing I want to challenge us (to do) is just to finish those drives,” said Milivojevic, who finished 26-for-34 for 247 yards. “We made it down in the red zone – I want to say we settled for field goals three times in the red zone in the first half alone. I think just overall, finishing those drives for us is gonna be huge. But I thought we moved the ball well, and I'm just really proud of the guys up front.”
It became 23 potential points missed to open the third quarter when Boyd’s sixth field goal attempt was blocked from 54 yards out. That came after a third MIlivojevic sack and another incompletion. The Rockets scored on the ensuing drive, then capitalized again two plays after Edwards failed to convert on fourth-and-inches at the Toledo 29 early in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans stared at the scoreboard and a 20-19 deficit, experiencing the realization of what Fitzgerald preached Monday about field goals vs. touchdowns.
“We know football is not a game of perfect, so things are gonna happen in the game,” said Bullard, who had seven catches for 90 yards. “We kind of practiced that all throughout camp, all throughout practice, just knowing that not everything is gonna go our way. And it’s about how we respond.”
When Milivojevic got the ball back facing the first deficit of the season, he and Bullard seized the moment with a two-man attack.
The first was a play-action throw, with Milivojevic splitting two defenders on a deep corner route to Bullard for 26 yards. After Milivojevic’s dangerous and nearly disastrous tight end screen pass fell incomplete, Milivojevic again held the pocket and delivered a bullet to Bullard on a deep out. The sixth-year senior high-pointed the catch through contact, and Milivojevic absorbed a roughing the passer penalty for an extra 15 yards to put MSU at Toledo’s 14.
“I just thought just the whole game, he was really calm,” Fitzgerald said of Milivojevic. “The way he acted, the way he operated, the way he played is exactly how he’s been since I got here.”
After a pair of runs, Milivojevic hit receiver Chrishon McCray for 4 more yards to Toledo’s 5. The catch was short of a first down. Milivojevic urged offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and Fitzgerald to let them go for it on fourth-and-inches.
“I told coach, ‘Just trust me and trust that I’ll make the right read and go get the first down,” Milivojevic said.
Milivojevic rolled right, freezing the Rockets’ defenders expecting a run, and found Bullard open in the back of the end zone. The two connected again on the 2-point pass, with Bullard again leaping and pulling down a pass at its peak in the back right corner.
It gave Fitzgerald his first MSU win and Milivojevic his second in his last two starts, including last season’s finale against Maryland.
“He just executed the plays at a high level, which is what we expect and need him to do for us to be successful,” Fitzgerald said of Milivojevic. “I think he’s just gonna keep getting better and better and better. I’ve just been so impressed with his maturity as a young player. And we’re gonna need him.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Next up: Eagles
Matchup: Michigan State (1-0) vs. Eastern Michigan (1-1).
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.
TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WJR-AM (760).
Line: Spartans by 17.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Alessio Milivojevic: Michigan State's offense needs to finish drives
