Toledo at Michigan State

The game’s hinge is Michigan State’s unsettled offensive line against Toledo’s returning pass-rush production. Fitzgerald said 10 or 11 linemen were competing for jobs, leaving the Spartans to build cohesion while learning a system designed to move weapons and create favorable matchups. Toledo can challenge that process with Martez Poynter, who posted 6.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss in 2025, and Jeremiah Peters, who added four sacks. If those two disrupt Milivojevic before routes develop, Sheridan’s multiplicity matters less; if Michigan State’s front keeps the structure clean, Milivojevic can distribute rather than improvise.

Toledo’s clearest path to control is to make Michigan State play from behind schedule: pressure the pocket, force long-yardage snaps and use its substantial returning passing production to avoid obvious situations. Michigan State needs a steadier formula. Its offensive line must avoid drive-killing disruption, while middle linebacker Jordan Hall—back after 88 tackles in 2025—organizes a defense integrating 14 transfers. The Spartans can dictate terms by keeping Milivojevic on time and making Toledo sustain drives against Hall, safety Nikai Martinez and an experienced secondary. The opener should reveal whether Michigan State’s imported experience already functions as a unit.