michigan state

It was always going to be the Bruin Bullies’ day.

No. 9 UCLA was hosting a Michigan State team with one of the least productive offenses in the country led by freshman quarterback Kayd Coffman, who was taking his first college snaps after the Spartans’ top two quarterbacks were injured.

After forcing three turnovers and four sacks, UCLA trounced Michigan State 28-10 Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl. The Bruins improved to 7-0 for the first time since 2005 after winning just three games last season.

UCLA’s defense carried it after the offense was flat in the first half, dropping two passes, drawing drive-killing penalties and fumbling twice in Michigan State territory. Both fumbles were forced by Spartans safety Devin Vaught and returned 50-plus yards to the red zone.

While UCLA conceded a touchdown after the first giveaway, allowing Michigan State (2-6, 0-5) to score in two plays, the Bruins avenged the second fumble with an interception from linebacker Donavyn Pellot.

Pellot returned his first career interception 67 yards. Wayne Knight scored on a one-yard run five plays later for his 13th touchdown of the season. The score gave UCLA a lead it would never relinquish.

UCLA quarterback Ty Dieffenbach passes in the first quarter against Michigan State at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“Second half [was] much, much better than the first half,” UCLA coach Bob Chesney told CBS immediately after the game. “Mistakes in there and uncharacteristic things that we cannot allow to happen at this point in the year.

“So a little bit disappointed in moments, but at the same point in time we did what we had to do.”

Once the offense found its footing, it did not step off the gas.

The Bruins leaned heavily on their running game as they returned to its usual form after being limited to 3.5 yards per carry and failing to surpass 150 yards the past two weeks. All three starting running backs reached the end zone for the third time this season, as UCLA finished with 245 rushing yards at 5.1 yards per carry. Anthony Woods led the UCLA rushing attack with 112 yards and a touchdown in 14 carries.

The running game loosened up the Michigan State defense, and UCLA quarterback Ty Dieffenbach took advantage of an already depleted secondary on the first drive of the second half, unloading a 63-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Brian Rowe Jr. for his first touchdown of the season.

Dieffenbach made the big play after sustaining an apparent leg injury on a hard hit late in the first half.

With the defense holding the Spartans to just 156 total yards of offense — 73 of which came in the fourth quarter with UCLA in control — Dieffenbach didn’t have to be perfect to secure the win. He completed 18 of 31 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, UCLA refused to allow a forward push at the line of scrimmage, flying into the backfield and holding Michigan State to 1.6 yards per carry.

UCLA running back Wayne Knight scores a touchdown in the second quarter against Michigan State on Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

And when the Spartans tried to pass, the Bruins dug deeper, making it a nightmare for Coffman until Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald turned to fourth-string quarterback Leo Hannan. UCLA finished with four sacks, six tackles for a loss and five quarterback hurries, essentially living in the Spartans’ backfield.

The Bruins sealed their seventh consecutive victory with an interception from safety Malik Hartford, his second forced turnover of the game.

The UCLA defense was one of the team’s biggest liabilities during the past decade, stretching from the Chip Kelly era to last season’s three-win effort.

This season, UCLA hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than 15 points since Sept. 19.

Julian Sayin threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith on fourth down early in the fourth quarter Saturday, and No. 4 Ohio State survived what appeared to be the go-ahead score when Nick Marsh’s left foot was ruled to be out of bounds as the visiting Buckeyes beat No. 5 Indiana 19-15.

The victory ended Indiana’s winning streak at 22 and home winning streak at 19. They were the two longest active streaks in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

But the victory could prove costly for Ohio State (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten). Sayin appeared to injure his right arm during the fourth quarter, left the game and watched the final minutes from the sideline wearing a sling.

“I don’t have a ton of details, but it looks like Julian will be out several weeks,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.

Indiana sure didn’t go down easily in the rematch of last year’s Big Ten championship game. Trailing 19-7 after Smith’s touchdown catch, the injured Josh Hoover responded by finding Nick Marsh on a 19-yard touchdown pass and Turbo Richard on the two-point conversion to make it 19-15 with 10:30 to go.

It looked like he did it again on fourth and four from the Buckeyes 27-yard line when he hooked up with a wide open Marsh in the front corner of the end zone. The fireworks even went off, but Marsh’s left foot came down out of bounds. It was first home loss in coach Curt Cignetti’s three seasons and the first top-five matchup in Memorial Stadium history.

While the game lived up to the hype, the quarterbacks did not.

Sayin was 15-of-29 passing for 235 yards with two interceptions for the second straight week. Hoover appeared to hurt his right shoulder during the third quarter but returned for Indiana and finished 20 of 40 for 296 yards with one touchdown and one lost fumble, his first turnover of the year.

Florida 27, at No. 7 Texas 24: Quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. threw two touchdowns to Lacota Dippre in his first career start, Jadan Baugh scored a fourth-quarter touchdown and the Gators rallied to hand the Longhorns their second consecutive loss.

Florida (5-2, 3-2 SEC) had risen as high as No. 8 after a 4-0 start under first-year coach Jon Sumrall before consecutive blowout losses, but delivered what could be a season-saving victory.

The Gators defense, ranked last the Southeastern Conference, shut down Texas quarterback Arch Manning and the Longhorns offense, holding Texas (4-2, 1-2) under 300 yards of total offense.

at No. 22 Louisiana State 31, No. 16 Mississippi State 0: Sam Leavitt threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, and the Tigers raced to a three-touchdown, first-half lead over the injury-depleted Bulldogs.

Jackson Harris had six catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns for LSU (5-2, 2-2 SEC) before leaving the game with an apparent lower left leg injury in the third quarter.

Playing without dynamic starting quarterback Kamario Taylor and top running back Fluff Bothwell, the Bulldogs (4-2, 2-2 SEC) lost their second straight — each by more than 30 points.

at No. 24 Southern Methodist 23, Virginia 13: Kevin Jennings threw two touchdown passes while former SMU soccer player Brendan Baird boosted the struggling special teams with three field goals.

Kendrick Raphael ran for 124 yards as SMU (5-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) improved to 10-0 at home in ACC games since rejoining a power conference league in 2024. The Mustangs are 17-3 overall in the ACC.

The Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2) were held to fewer than 300 total yards for a third consecutive game by an SMU defense that led a win over Boston College two weeks ago despite Jennings’ offense gaining only 218 yards. Virginia finished with 258 yards.

No. 25 Northwestern 24, at Michigan State 21: Jackson Kleather kicked three field goals, including the game-winning 34-yarder with two seconds left.

Aidan Chiles tied the score at 21 with 7:24 remaining on a one-yard run and threw to Alex Honig on a two-point conversion for Northwestern (5-1 overall, 2-1 Big Ten). After Matthew Smith blocked Michigan State’s 33-yard field-goal attempt by Liam Boyd, Chiles drove the Wildcats 64 yards in eight plays to set up the winning kick.

Chiles, who started 20 games at Michigan State the past two seasons before transferring to Northwestern, completed 18 of 27 passes for 226 yards and also had 16 carries for 25 yards.

The Spartans (2-5, 0-4) had led 21-13 early in the fourth quarter when Alessio Milivojevic tossed a 53-yard touchdown pass to Chrishon McCray. He completed 19 of 30 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns.

Etc.

Joe Jackson ran for 159 yards and a touchdown, Avery Johnson threw for 203 yards and another score, and host Kansas State overcame a multitude of mistakes to beat bitter rival Kansas for the 18th consecutive time, 35-24 on Saturday. … Elijah Brown threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns Friday night to help Washington break a three-game losing streak with a 38-26 victory over Purdue. …

Mike Hawkins Jr. threw for a career-high 464 yards and Jack Cassidy kicked a 35-yard field goal as time ran out to lift host West Virginia to a wild 45-42 win over Cincinnati. … Quarterback Cale Hellums ran for 195 yards and five touchdowns and Army raced past visiting Florida Atlantic 56-24.