The No. 9 UCLA Bruins knocked off the Michigan State Spartans 28-10 at the Rose Bowl on Saturday to remain undefeated in the 2026 season.

The Bruins start the season 7-0 after UCLA overcame a sloppy start that put them in jeopardy of an upset early on in their game. The Bruins woke up a bit in the second quarter and sent the Spartans packing in the second half to leave their homecoming game with a win. Here were five takeaways from their rocky performance against Michigan State.

A first quarter clunker

The Bruins allowed the wounded Spartans to remain in the game with horrific play to start the game. Michigan State scored the first points of the game, thanks to a fumble by Bruin running back Anthony Woods. The Spartans continued to benefit from UCLA's sloppy play, as they collected another fumble in the second quarter. The Bruins were able to score points in the second quarter to carry a 14-7 lead into halftime despite the penalties, drops, fumbles and poor play.

Turnovers galore

UCLA's two turnovers came in the first half, as previously mentioned. Fortunately for the home team, their defense was able to snag a few of their own with a fumble and an interception leading into the Bruins first two scores of the game in the second quarter. UCLA's defense snatched another interception in the fourth quarter that would lead the Bruins final drive to close out the win.

Defense leads the way

Speaking about the turnovers, UCLA's defense carried the Bruins yet again. The defense held Michigan State to just 156 total yards with 67 of those yards coming from the Spartans' fourth-string freshman quarterback Leo Hannan in garbage time. UCLA's defense has proven to be one of the Bruins greatest strengths this season as they harassed Michigan State's offense with four sacks, six tackles-for-loss and three turnovers.

Run game rediscovers itself

The Bruins run game started off rocky with senior running backs Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas both fumbling in the first half. However, the pair of rushers and senior star running back Wayne Knight each had a touchdown for three of the Bruins four touchdowns. Woods led the trio with 14 carries for 112 rushing yards with Knight having 15 carries for 56 yards on the ground. Thomas also had a productive day with 41 rushing yards on 10 carries while finding the end zone.

Gritty Ty Dieffenbach

Senior quarterback Ty Dieffenbach had another solid performance after facing a bit of adversity in the first half. Dieffenbach had two passes nearly intercepted and appeared to be injured after being tackled right before halftime. That didn't deter the veteran signal caller though, as he played the rest of the game and launched the ball 63 yards to sophomore receiver Brian Rowe Jr. for a touchdown on their opening drive of the second half. Dieffenbach ended the game completing 58 percent of his passes for 198 passing yards and a touchdown with 17 rushing yards on five carries.