Over the past two games, MSU’s ounce of hope for the future has been sacked 12 times, hit hard on multiple occasions and has paid the physical price because of it. On Monday, head coach Jonathan Smith said Milivojevic was banged up in MSU’s 28-10 loss to Penn State. Given the hits he was taking, this comes as little surprise.

If MSU (3-7, 0-7) wants to beat Iowa (6-4, 4-3) this Saturday, it must protect Milivojevic. If it wants to have a future and end this shroud of mystery, it must do the same. 

"Alessio is a tough kid," Smith said. "He played tough [against Penn State], but we have to continue to find ways to keep him upright. That starts by playing 11-man football. We have to protect him better."

In two starts, Milivojevic has played okay – not great, not terrible, but more so how one would expect a redshirt freshman to perform. Through these two starts, Milivojevic has gone 37-for-55 with 439 yards and one touchdown. These numbers have allowed MSU to stay competitive as of late, but also have contributed to defeats. 

The okay performances — and the losses — shouldn’t fall solely on Milivojevic. The offense around him, from the coaches to the players, has not performed up to Spartan standards. A clear example of that can be seen in the offensive line’s play.

In a season of bad, MSU’s offense line has displayed the worst. The Spartans – especially in Big Ten play – have failed to produce movement in the trenches, failed to win one-on-ones, struggled with pre-snap identification and have produced some of the worst offensive line stats in college football. This season, MSU has allowed 35 sacks (128th in the FBS, worst in the Big Ten) and has allowed an average of 8.1 tackles for loss (133rd in the FBS, worst in Big Ten).

It doesn’t matter who drops back to pass. Whether it’s Milivojevic, junior Aidan Chiles or a Heisman candidate from Alabama, MSU’s offensive line will allow pressure — just as it has all season.

Given the circumstances, Milivojevic has handled pressure as well as he can. He’s shown a sense of calm, plants his feet and takes the hit before delivering an accurate ball to his receiver. But sometimes the pressure is too much, too fast, and when no receiver is open, Milivojevic is forced to either scramble for a minimal gain or take the sack.

"We can improve a lot," Milivojevic said about the on-field relationship he’s building with the offensive line. "Like coach Smith said, it’s full 11-man [football], and I think we’re improving on it daily in practice."

When the offensive line doesn’t exhibit quality pass pro, the quarterback is bound to be hit, and hits on a quarterback is a program's worst nightmare, especially if these hits are repeated. This is what Spartan fans witnessed with Chiles.

In 20 games as the MSU starting quarterback, Chiles worked with a subpar offensive line, just as Milivojevic is working with now. In those 20 games, Chiles took 51 sacks (2.55 sacks per game), saw pressure after pressure and took hit after hit, injuring his body and his confidence and his on-field abilities. 

It was once said that Chiles was the future. After playing 20 games with MSU’s offensive line, that future is the past, gone and wasted. 

If Milivojevic is the future of a Spartan program that desperately needs a hero, then MSU’s offensive line must protect him, game in and game out. That protection — or the lack of it — will be on display Saturday in Iowa at 3:30 p.m. The game will air on Fox.