Michigan State has had a tough start to the 2026 college football season, falling to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play after five straight losses.
The Spartans opened the year with convincing wins over Toledo and Eastern Michigan, but their season quickly went off the rails with double-digit losses to Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, before narrow defeats against Illinois and Northwestern, both at home and by a single score.
The last two losses have been particularly frustrating because of how close Michigan State came to ending its losing streak, falling 38-37 to Illinois and then 24-21 to Northwestern. Injuries have also hurt the Spartans, including the loss of starting running back Cam Edwards earlier in the season.
Now, injuries to the quarterback position threaten to make an already challenging situation even worse. Starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic is currently listed as questionable for Michigan State's road game against undefeated UCLA on Saturday, while backup Cam Fancher has already been ruled out.
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Milivojevic, a sophomore from Wheaton, Illinois, has started all seven games for Michigan State this season, throwing for 1,263 yards and seven touchdowns with three interceptions, completing 65.4% of his passes. The school hasn't disclosed the nature of his injury, but it remains the biggest concern heading into Saturday's contest as he's done a good job of limiting turnovers amid the Spartans' losing streak.
Fancher, meanwhile, is out for a third straight game after suffering a knee injury earlier in the season. He's appeared in five games, completing 8 of 11 passes (72.7%) for 59 yards with one interception, along with 27 rushing yards and one rushing score.
If Milivojevic can't play, true freshman Kayd Coffman could be thrown into the starting role. A Grand Rapids, Michigan, native Coffman was a three-star recruit and the No. 24 quarterback prospect in the 2026 class by 247Sports. He made only a brief appearance earlier this season against Wisconsin, but has yet to attempt a pass at the college level.
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Pat Fitzgerald's first season as head coach at Michigan State hasn't gone according to plan, and with just two wins on the year, climbing up to an even .500 record would be a massive win for this program. But Saturday's game won't do them any favors. The Bruins are arguably the hottest team in college football right now, ranked No. 9 in the country, and the Spartans might not have their top two quarterbacks available.
After UCLA, Michigan State will travel to Michigan on Nov. 7, followed by home games against Washington and Oregon before closing out their season at Rutgers.