The latest from Jonathan Smith: Quarterbacks, future eligibility for seniors, Penn State loss and more

Michigan State remains winless in conference play after losing what seemed like another winnable game up until the fourth quarter. As it was the last game at home for the season, the Spartans wanted to grind out a win on senior day but fell short, losing to Penn State 28-10. The Spartans have now lost seven contests in a row.

Early in the season, the MSU defense was the biggest concern for the Spartans, but through the back-half of the season, the unit has shown improvement and have made big stops allowing the offense opportunities to execute.

“You know, think about defensively, what stood out? There’s a lot of good football there,” MSU head coach Jonathan Smith said on Monday regarding the game against the Nittany Lions. “Some critical stops third and fourth down kept us in the game for a long time. I think we talked about that after, but some legitimate tackling for the most part.” 

Meanwhile, the offense has had it struggles for several weeks now. Before the game on Saturday, Alessio Milivojevic was announced as the starting quarterback for the second game in a row. Former starter Aidan Chiles is dealing with an injury he suffered during the practice week that currently has him in a walking boot and he did not dress for the game versus PSU. This gave Milivojevic a chance to take the majority of the first-team reps during practice leading up to the game, and regardless of the injury to Chiles, Milivojevic was expected to make the start for the Spartans.

Milivojevic had to deal with a lot of pressure in Saturday’s game from Penn State’s defensive line, which resulted in him getting banged up throughout the game. Through two starts, Milivojevic has vben sacked a total of 12 times.

“I thought Alessio played tough standing in there,” Smith said about Milivojevic. “We've got to continue to find ways to keep him upright and that's 11-man, I’ve said it before, but some of the timing on things could have been better to keep him up right, but we've got to protect him better, too.” 

On top of an already long list of injuries MSU has struggled with this season, Milivojevic going down would be a detriment to the offense, however Smith is confident he will be ready to play this Saturday against Iowa on the road.