Alessio Milivojevic will start at quarterback for Michigan State versus Minensota

Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith is making a change at the quarterback position. The Spartans will start redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic at Minnesota on Saturday afternoon. Junior signal-caller Aidan Chiles has started each of MSU's first eight games of the 2025 season.

Smith announced the change on the Spartan Media Network pregame radio show on Saturday, saying that the teams feels Milivojevic can create a "spark."

Spartans Illustrated reported in the "Game Day" chat earlier on Saturday that Chiles and Milivojevic split reps 50-50 during the practice week, and that sources were expecting Milivojevic to play a significant amount against the Golden Gophers. While Milivojevic will draw the start, it is still possible that Chiles sees snaps as well.

This will be the first start of Milivojevic's career. In five games this season, he has completed 22 out of 37 pass attempts (59%) for 281 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Milivojevic has also recorded a rushing touchdown.

In eight games, Chiles has completed 128 out of 203 passes (63%) for 1,392 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also added 227 net rushing yards and six additional touchdowns on the ground. However, Chiles has struggled in the passing game in Big Ten play, completing only 57.4% of his passes for 736 yards with four touchdown passes and two interceptions. He is averaging just 147.2 passing yards per game in conference play and the Spartans are yet to earn a Big Ten win.

Chiles is a team captain for Michigan State and has started 20 games for the Spartans in total.

Chiles started his career at Oregon State under Smith and followed the head coach to Michigan State in the 2024 offseason. Milivojevic was signed as part of MSU's 2024 recruiting class, which was Smith's first as head coach of the Spartans. Both quarterbacks arrived in East Lansing in January of 2024 and have been supportive of each other.

The change at quarterback comes after Michigan State has lost five-straight games and currently sits at 3-5 overall, including 0-5 in Big Ten play. Questions about Smith's job security are abundant, but the Spartans could still qualify for a bowl game if they can three of their final four games.

Michigan State and Minnesota will kick off in Minneapolis at 3:31 p.m. Eastern Time and the game will air on the Big Ten Network.