PASADENA, Calif. — Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal offers three quick takes from Michigan State's 28-10 loss at UCLA.
1. Increasingly shorthanded, MSU made this interesting for a bit. But the die was cast.
For a good while Saturday, Oct. 24, Michigan State and its island of misfit toys gave UCLA all it could handle.It turned out to be two or three too many injuries for the Spartans, which, if they’d had their starting quarterback and their starting running back — both scratches this week — and not lost their top defender, tackle Ben Roberts, to a leg injury in the first quarter, who knows? They might have picked off the unbeaten Bruins, who looked unfocused, a little overrated and unfamiliar with how to handle being heavy favorites.
But MSU gave the two turnovers it created right back and never truly punished UCLA for its early performance. Eventually, the game we thought we might see unfolded, sending the Spartans into a cherished bye week with a sixth straight defeat, falling 28-10 in their first return to the Rose Bowl since better days.
MSU didn’t embarrass itself. The Spartans are just out of dudes. UCLA isn’t much better than Northwestern or Illinois, if at all.
But when quarterback Alessio Milivojevic and Jaziun Patterson — both listed as questionable midweek — were ruled out, the die was cast, even if it took a while to see.
Because while freshman quarterback Kayd Coffman is an exciting prospect — and perhaps the future at QB for the Spartans — he is not the quarterback that gives MSU the best chance to win a game like this today. And we saw that when, after UCLA’s second fumble gave the Spartans the ball 19 yards from the end zone — with a chance to go ahead 14-7 in the second quarter — Coffman didn’t see Bruins’ linebacker Donavyn Pellot, who picked off his pass and returned it most of the field the other way to set up UCLA’s go-ahead score.
Coffman has a some real arm talent that Milivojevic might not. But Milivojevic, 11 starts into his career, would not have thrown that interception.
One might argue if Patterson had been healthy and carrying the ball, MSU wouldn’t have coughed it up earlier with Kenneth Williams running it. That led directly to UCLA’s first score, erasing a 7-0 MSU lead.“Next man up” is a great line in a locker room. It’s true in that you have to put 11 players on the field, so the next man is up. But injuries matter. Who's on the field matters. And an MSU roster that was never flush with playmakers, is increasingly green and digging deeper into its depth chart.
The Coffman-Milivojevic conversation is one for the offseason. Coffman had some good moments early. You can see why MSU likes him so much. But if MSU wants any chance at upsetting Michigan in two weeks in Ann Arbor, Milivojevic has to be under center, with Patterson behind him. Losing Roberts might still be too much.
2. Devin Vaught continues to make his presence felt
The best news to come out of Saturday’s game for MSU — other than perhaps Kayd Coffman showing glimpses of his talent — is being reminded that Devin Vaught has another year of eligibility.
On a team short on playmakers, healthy bodies and promising players with time left in college football beyond this season, Vaught checks every box. The transfer from Maine has been that guy all season — leading MSU in tackles, and with one of the Spartans’ two interceptions on the season.
Saturday, he was as disruptive as he’s been all fall — forcing two fumbles, including, in the first quarter ripping the ball out of the arms of Bruins running back Anthony Woods and returning it 56 yards to the 15-yard line, setting up the Spartans’ lone touchdown.
SPARTAN BALL 💥 @MSU_Football
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 24, 2026
Watch on CBS pic.twitter.com/z4NOdbARG3
In the second quarter, Vaught poked the ball out from running back Jaivian Thomas, giving the ball to MSU at the 19-yard line, a scoring opportunity this time that ended quickly with a Coffman interception. Vaught also broke up a would-be touchdown pass to a UCLA tight end and later nearly came up with a pick himself. He was seemingly in on everything before the game got out of hand, with most of his eight tackles before halftime.
It wasn’t close to enough. But Vaught is a big reason this was interesting for a while and should be a priority to retain this offseason. You find a few more guys like that, you’ve got something.
3. The injuries are beyond ridiculous
By the middle of the first quarter Saturday, MSU was down its top two quarterbacks, top three running backs, top defensive lineman, star middle linebacker, and four cornerbacks.Running back Marvis Parrish and defensive tackle Ben Roberts were the latest casualties, both helped off the field early Saturday with injuries to their right and left legs, respectively. The Roberts’ injury is particularly a killer long-term.
People want to blame someone. I get it. That would be nice — a way to a solution. Maybe there’s a substation in Dem Hall, or an ancient burial ground under the MSU Dairy Store, which would explain the tingly feeling I get consuming every scoop. Or maybe it’s just God, who, it turns out, is originally from Washtenaw County, which explains a lot. None of that explains Saturday, which also included an injury to starting right guard Nick Sharpe. There are some serious looking power lines on the San Gabriel Mountains overlooking the Rose Bowl. UCLA might want to investigate. All of the above are as likely as MSU’s annual injury woes being the fault of four straight — different — strength of conditioning staffs, as some folks seem to believe.
It is, however, legitimately inexplicably bad luck, to the point this program is owed some good fortune.
The question now is whether this team has enough healthy players to stay in the fight the rest of this season. They did Saturday at UCLA for a half. If they’d had a little more seasoning at quarterback and one of their usual running backs in the game — and avoided their two turnovers (one fumble, one interception), they might have had a chance. UCLA was there to be had.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Couch: 3 quick takes on MSU football's 28-10 loss at UCLA