Michigan State Beats Toledo, 30-20, in Season Opener to Notch First Win for Fitzgerald

Friday, September 4

East Lansing, Mich.

8 PM

Michigan State University

1-0 , 0-0

Toledo

0-1 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Toledo	0	7	7	6	20
Michigan St.	10	9	0	11	30

MSU Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald with Rodney Bullard after the season-opening win over Toledo

Photo by: Rey Del Rio

Michigan State Beats Toledo, 30-20, in Season Opener to Notch First Win for Fitzgerald

9/5/2026 12:08:00 AM | Football

Box Score Post-Game Quotes Post-Game Notes Final Stats (PDF)

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Graduate kicker Liam Boyd connected on five field goals, including a career-best from 51 yards with 1:55 left, as Michigan State opened up a 19-7 lead at the half and beat Toledo, 30-20, in the season opener for both teams in front of 72,083 at Spartan Stadium Friday night.

It was the first win for Michigan State under first-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic completed 26-of-34 passes for 247 yards and one touchdown, graduate running back Cam Edwards had 27 carries for 98 yards and one touchdown and graduate wide receiver Rodney Bullard Jr. caught seven passes for 90 yards, including a 5-yard TD pass with 10:37 left in the game as MSU reclaimed the lead.

Boyd, a transfer from Charlotte, kicked five field goals, four in the first half – from 32 yards, 42 yards, 48 yards and 35 yards – before the 51-yarder to seal the win.

"Really proud of the way our guys responded," said Fitzgerald. "I talked to them early in this process about learning the difference between reacting and responding. Reacting has an emotional response or an emotional way about it, and a response has an action plan that allows you to have success. And I thought we responded really boldly."

SCORING SUMMARY
After forcing a three-and-out on Toledo's first possession, Michigan State marched right down the field on its first offensive drive of the season, going 63 yards on 13 plays in 7:14 to take a quick 7-0 lead. Edwards capped the long drive with a 2-yard run from the Wildcat formation.

Liam Boyd connected on a 32-yard field goal with six seconds left in the first quarter as MSU opened a 10-0 advantage.

Playing in his first game as a Spartan, Kenny Soares Jr. recorded an interception in Toledo territory to set up Boyd's second field goal of the game, this time from 42 yards away to make it 13-0 in favor of the Spartans with 11:37 remaining in the second quarter.

Toledo answered on its next series as John Alan Richter threw a 60-yard touchdown to Adjatay Dabbs to get on the board, cutting MSU's lead to 13-7.

Boyd hit two more field goals in the second quarter (48 yards, 35 yards) to give MSU a 19-7 halftime lead.

The Spartans held onto the ball for more than six minutes to start the third quarter, but Boyd's fifth field-goal attempt was blocked. The Rockets then drove 60 yards on six plays, capped by a Richter 6-yard TD pass to Dabbs, to trim the MSU lead to 19-14 at the 6:49 mark in the third quarter.

Following a fourth-down stop by Toledo in MSU territory, the Rockets took their first lead of the game on Connor Walendzak's 71-yard touchdown run that put UT on top, 20-19, with 13:47 left in the fourth quarter.

Michigan State answered right back, going on a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to regain the lead, 27-20. On fourth-and-1 from the Toledo 5-yard line, Milivojevic found Bullard in the end zone at the 10:37 mark, and then the duo found a connection again on the 2-point conversion.

Toledo took possession and moved to the MSU 24-yard line before the drive stalled and a missed field goal gave the ball back to the Spartans. An 11-play, 43-yard drive over nearly six minutes went to the Toledo 33-yard line and Boyd's kick sealed the victory for MSU.

UP NEXT
Michigan State hosts Eastern Michigan at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

"All we could do was go 1-0 today," said Fitzgerald. "So that's what we did. And I'd like to go practice because we've got a lot of work to do, but really proud of the guys, and I'm really thankful for them. 270-something days ago we got together as a football family, and there were a lot of new faces, and a lot of new coaches, and a lot of new everything. And we've just gone through a journey to get to this point, and now it's about taking the necessary steps as coaches to help these guys improve in every aspect of what we do."