Michigan State’s quarterback situation is suddenly up in the air heading into Saturday’s trip to No. 9 UCLA.
The Spartans’ first availability report of the week, released Wednesday night, listed Alessio Milivojevic as questionable for the matchup with the Bruins. That came as a surprise, especially with no obvious sign that he was dealing with anything lately. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald said after last week’s 24-21 loss to Northwestern that the team was “injury-free,” and Milivojevic also met with the media after the game, which made this development feel unexpected.
If Milivojevic can’t go, Michigan State would likely turn to true freshman and third-stringer Kayd Coffman. Backup Cam Fancher was ruled out for a third consecutive game.
Coffman has only seen action once this season, logging mop-up work late at Wisconsin, the same game in which Fancher was hurt. He did not attempt a pass and finished with three carries for minus-1 yard.
There’s also a path where second-year quarterback Leo Hannan gets a crack at the job. Hannan has yet to play in a game during his season and a half with the Spartans. He was the QB3 last year and became the primary backup to Milivojevic for a few games late in 2025 while Aidan Chiles was sidelined.
Coffman is viewed as the next man up in the room. The former four-star recruit in Michigan State’s 2026 class checked in at No. 274 overall, No. 19 among quarterbacks and No. 6 among Michiganders in the 247Sports Composite. He chose the Spartans over offers from Ole Miss, Iowa State, Colorado, Duke, Cincinnati and others, and there was no apparent drama around his commitment when Michigan State changed head coaches just before the early signing period.
Michigan State’s full availability list also included RB Cam Edwards (season), QB Cam Fancher, CB Tre Bell, CB Charles Brantley, LB Jordan Hall, WR Charles Taplin, CB Keshawn Williams, CB Tyran Chappell, FB Jay Coyne, OL Tristan Comer, TE Joe Caudill, RB Jaziun Patterson, QB Alessio Milivojevic, RB Darrin Jones Jr., LB Caleb Wheatland, LB Brady Pretzlaff and OL Ben Murawski.
In Other News...
Tom Izzo Sent A Clear Message To MSU Fans In Loss
Tom Izzo spent part of Michigan States exhibition loss doing something that rarely comes with a scoreboard: trying to calm the building down. During UConns visit to the Breslin Center on Oct. 20, the crowd turned hostile toward Huskies coach Dan Hurley, and Izzo made it clear he wanted the chants to stop while the two sides played a game that carried real early-season buzz despite being an exhibition. No. 5 UConn left East Lansing with a 78-70 win over No. 6 Michigan State, but the night also carried the kind of edge that comes with two highly ranked programs meeting in front of a fired-up crowd.
Afterward, both coaches kept the focus on respect. Izzo and Hurley each praised the others team and coaching, which fit the tone of a matchup that had plenty of intensity without crossing the line into a full-blown showdown. For Michigan State, the result mattered less than the reminder that the Spartans are already in the kind of high-profile games where the environment can tilt fast, and Izzo seemed intent on making sure the message from the home side was about basketball, not the crowd. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremy Fears Jr Just Gave Michigan State Fans Real Reason To Dream
The Associated Press preseason All-America team gave Michigan State another jolt of national attention, and it came with Jeremy Fears Jr. at the center of it. The Spartans guard was named preseason Player of the Year for 2026-27 and came close to being a unanimous All-American, a sign of how quickly his stock has risen entering the new season. It is the kind of recognition that carries beyond Lansing, especially for a program that always measures itself against the national picture.
The AP list was built around five returning players from last season, with Thomas Haugh, Tyler Tanner, David Mirkovic and Motiejus Krivas joining Fears on the team. For Michigan State, the bigger takeaway is what Fears placement says about the ceiling of this roster and the attention that comes with it. Preseason honors do not decide anything, but they do sharpen expectations, and this one gives Spartan fans plenty of reason to believe the conversation around their team could be bigger than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Already Has One Early Rotation Issue To Watch
An exhibition loss to UConn did not do much to dull the sense that Michigan State still has something to work with this preseason, especially after Dan Hurley came away impressed enough to praise the Spartans anyway. But for Tom Izzo, the more immediate concern is less about the result and more about figuring out the center position, where the early rotation remains unsettled.
Anton Bonke, Jesse McCulloch and Ethan Taylor all got time on the floor and each had moments that mattered, which is part of why the spot still looks open-ended. Michigan State is still searching for consistency there, and how Izzo sorts out those minutes will be one of the more important things to watch as the season gets closer. [Read more 🡒]