DETROIT– Michigan State football had not won a single game since September going into Saturday night at Ford Field. The Spartans had come close with some gut-wrenching results in the past month but to no avail with an inability to play a complete game.
However, in the season finale, redshirt junior defensive back Aveon Grose in his first start of the year got perfectly underneath a lofted ball, locked down his first interception of the season, and ended the Spartan season on a high note. It took a total team effort as MSU took down Maryland with a 38-28 final.
“Proud of the group, like I said, happy for these guys to go through tough times, short on the scoreboard repeatedly, I think the group shows that they continue to play hard and all that,” MSU head coach Jonathan Smith said. “Yeah, there’s going to be conversation because the season now is over. We got to do it better than we’ve done it this year without question. And we’re ready to work to do that.”
The Spartans got rolling early by establishing the run and being selective in the passing game. Senior running back Elijah Tau-Toliver came out as the lead rusher and settled the Spartan attack in. This allowed redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic get comfortable and hit sophomore wide receiver Nick Marsh up the seam into Terrapin territory.
The 24-yard catch and run set up a few more physical runs by Tau-Toliver down to the UMD one yard line, where Milivojevic cashed in for six. On the play action, redshirt junior tight end Kai Rios faked a block, leaked out unchecked, and secured the wide-open touchdown in the back of the endzone. This was Rios’ first reception of the season as the Spartans struck first.
The MSU defense also found early success after getting lucky on a few missed deep balls from freshman quarterback Malik Washington. The Terrapin play calling shied away from aggression, opting for throws underneath and to the flat. The Spartans allowed this strategy to get going as the first half went along, but the run game was a complete non-factor with 33 yards through the first 30 minutes.
The MSU offense, after weeks of hanging the defense out to dry, finally capitalized and took a 17-point lead. Starting with a 46-yard strike to senior wide receiver Omari Kelly to set up a 25-yard field goal from freshman kicker Martin Connington. After a Terrapin three and out, Milivojevic came out slinging to senior tight end Jack Velling for 28-yards down the sideline with Marsh re-emerging a few plays later.
Marsh got UMD out of position with some pre-snap motion, shook his defender for a wide-open grab on a slant route, and carried a few defenders in for the 15-yard score. This was Marsh’s first touchdown since October 18th against Indiana and finished the night with 85 yards on seven catches.
“I think we had some great timing out there, you know hitting guys out of their break, knowing what each other’s thinking really like each coverage and each break point, just getting the ball out fast and letting my guys go to work,” Milivojevic said. “The receivers made great plays, tight ends made great plays, running backs were running hard, o-line was playing amazing so I think just giving props to all my teammates for making plays, all I gotta do is give them the ball.”
UMD answered with some urgency though, with Washington establishing a rhythm after the first few drives. He picked apart some MSU downfield gaps with his receivers finding open space. Senior wide receiver Jalil Farooq made them pay in the end on a missed assignment, going completely uncovered on the touchdown seven yards out. The Terrapins looked to cut further into the lead, getting the ball back quickly and into MSU territory with a few minutes left in the first half.
However, an illegal blindside block committed by redshirt sophomore Nolan Ray completely changed the drive. Some solid chunk plays got the Terrapins back into a 4th and two, but a one-on-one endzone shot for senior wide receiver Shaleak Knotts was won by redshirt senior defensive back Malcom Bell.
With a minute left, Milivojevic captained the offense with efficiency and decisiveness. Velling led the way with a 17-yard sideline catch and made his best catch as a Spartan a few plays later. He showed his strength by stretching out for the ball while getting dragged down over the middle of the endzone, re-extending the MSU lead to 24-7 at the break.
The second quarter was the high point of Milivojevic’s best start of his young career; he finished the night with 292 yards on 27-39 passing with four touchdowns. This was also his cleanest game in the pocket, only getting hurried three times with the offensive line allowing zero sacks. With time to throw downfield and establish a real flow on drives, it was clear Milivojevic unlocked a new gear to his game.
“I think he showed progression over his starts. I think he showed his toughness and I think he earned respect in the locker room. Each week, I thought he was in total command tonight in regards to where the ball needed to be going,” Smith said. “You didn’t see a lot of forced throws. He did get protected better tonight and he can be dangerous. I think it showed we can be dangerous at receiver and some of these guys in space with the ball.”
The Spartans came out with their first halftime lead since Youngstown State, but UMD had a clear game plan it was ready to execute. Washington lit the MSU secondary ablaze by finding receivers in open space who racked up yards after the catch, amassing 226 YAC for the whole game. This often got the Terrapins in striking distance, where Washington finished the job with improved accuracy towards the endzone.
Redshirt freshman running back DeJuan Williams with a rare rushing score was just the start of three straight UMD touchdown drives to start the half. Knotts was not denied this time with a perfect route towards the left for the 25-yard touchdown. This was followed by Farooq dusting his defensive back and the safety, striding to the goal line over the middle for six.
These two terrorized the Spartans’ defense by combining for 18 catches, 249, and three touchdowns as Washington continued to let it fly. His 61 passing attempts was the most by a Big Ten freshman since 2001, completing 38 of them for 459 passing yards but the offense’s reliance on his arm was clearly wearing on him towards the end.
“Yeah, I mean, it turned into a passing game. I think they ran the ball maybe three times in the second half. And I’ll take a lot of the blame. I mean, some drops in the middle I could have been better at. Zone distribution wasn’t at its best,” junior linebacker Jordan Hall said. “But I mean, when they run a whole second half of passing plays, that’s kind of difficult to kind of stop. But I think ultimately we were able to respond well, and when it mattered most, and get off the field, those last two drives and win the game.”
After the flurry of punches UMD landed in the third quarter, sixth year wide receiver Alante Brown on special teams kept MSU in front. Brown, on the kickoff after Knotts’ score, took it up the middle with a crease forming in front of him.
“We were discussing on the sideline if I get my opportunity, that I knew it would be a good one for me. Especially getting closer to me, knowing if I was going to play or not this week,” Brown said. “So I was watching a lot of film on the guys, and I knew that they had some vulnerable areas on the kickoff unit, and I just was waiting for my opportunity.”
Once he broke past a few tackle attempts past his own 30-yard line, his speed powered him the rest of the way. He took it the distance for the 92-yard house call, becoming the first Spartans’ returner to take a kickoff back for a touchdown since R.J. Shelton, 11 years ago to the day. Brown accomplished this on his first game back since injuring his foot in warmups before Youngstown State.
“I mean, the energy was amazing. It couldn’t have happened to any better guy to come back like that and honestly, that was the turning point of the game,” Hall said. “Defense, we were having trouble getting off the field, offense was having a little bit of trouble moving the ball down the field, so we needed that jump, and that was huge in that course of the game.”
MSU needed the extra boost after taking some major blows in the third as the Spartans were once again locked into a tight finish. On multiple occasions, it looked like the same old story of MSU giving one away in the final frame. However, UMD went wide left on a 27-yard field goal attempt after a stalled drive early in the fourth.
The teams then went back and forth looking for a dagger as Tau-Toliver threatened with a 38-yard breakaway rush on the next play. Redshirt junior defensive back Jamare Glasker forced another shift in momentum though, getting between a slant route to Marsh for his fourth interception of the season.
Now Washington and the Terps had a prime opportunity to break Spartan hearts for another week, but MSU dialed the aggression up on both sides of the ball. Washington looked spent after missing long on two deep balls and MSU defensive coordinator Joe Rossi took advantage with some pressure.
Hall missed a hit on Washington on third down but forced an errant throw, but freshman defensive back Aydan West came through on the DB blitz for a 13-yard sack on fourth down. Along with his critical and unblocked hit on the QB, West led the Spartans in tackles with eight total on the night.
“When the call came in and prior to that play we had called it and I didn’t get home,” West said. “So I was like alright, big time players make big time plays, I gotta get home. I see an open gap, I see the quarterback, and I was like I see red it’s time to go.”
Milivojevic, now with a second opportunity to finish the job, trotted back on the field on a fourth down of his own to put it on ice. After getting MSU in the redzone with a nice grab and drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct against the defense, Kelly snuck between the linebacker and defensive back over the middle of the endzone. The Spartan faithful who stuck it out in Detroit erupted at the wide open, 10-yard touchdown over the middle as MSU finally pulled away for a conference win.
“That was huge obviously to close out the game but it was a chippy game at the end,” Milivojevic said. “Obviously you never want to see a guy get his helmet ripped off but it was great for him [Kelly] to come back in there, control his emotions, and respond.”
The Grose interception on the ensuing UMD possession put the nail in a hard-fought victory the Spartans had been searching for since September. MSU had shown the effort and desire to finally get one over the last month of the season and they finally put it all together to get it done.
“We didn’t have the best season or anything, we were fighting through adversity the whole time, and even me individually I wasn’t too high on the depth chart at the beginning of the year,” Grose said. “I kept working, kept showing up and I got my chance and I secured us a win, you know sent the seniors out well and it feels pretty great honestly.”
The eight-game losing streak, the longest such streak in program history, was snapped as MSU locked down the B1G win. The Spartans wrapped up their 2025 campaign with a 4-8 overall record and went 1-8 in conference, avoiding the first winless Big Ten record since 1958.
“Yeah, I can’t even describe how I’m feeling. I’m so proud of this team and the way we fought. We made a good point in the locker room, this game was like the season. Started off strong, getting whooped in the middle,” Hall said. “But we found a way to rally at the end and finish strong, offensively, defensively, and I’m just so glad that we could send those seniors off the right way and finish the season on the right end.”
The season in East Lansing was ultimately disappointing and the arrival of the off-season raises many questions about the future. However, MSU’s victory in the campaign’s finale gives a flicker of hope going forward and showed some young promise throughout the roster.
