PASADENA, CA – No Alessio Milivojevic or Jaziun Patterson? Losing Marvis Parrish, Ben Roberts and Nick Sharpe?

No chance for Michigan State football. Right?

For a half on Saturday, Oct. 24, it looked like the Spartans might be able to survive and sustain the latest round of injuries in a season filled with them. But No. 10 UCLA wore them down in the second half, scoring two quick third-quarter touchdowns and turning up pressure on true freshman quarterback Kayd Coffman to hand MSU its sixth straight loss, 28-10.

Coffman became just the third true freshman to start at quarterback in MSU history and finished 4-for-10 for 42 yards, a touchdown and an interception, then redshirt freshman Leo Hannan took over for him on the final drive of the third quarter for his collegiate debut.

Hannan went 9-for-15 for 67 yards and led a late drive that ended with a 37-yard Liam Boyd field goal after UCLA put the game well out of reach, but threw an ill-fated interception as the Spartans made a late push.

The Spartans (2-6, 0-5 Big Ten) also lost Patterson’s replacement, Marvis Parrish, three plays and two carries into the game. He did not return. Kenneth Williams, who was the fourth running back on the roster a few weeks ago, took over for Parrish and finished with 54 yards on 17 carries with a fumble and caught a 14-yard TD pass from Coffman in the first quarter that gave MSU a brief lead.

UCLA (7-0, 5-0) outgained the Spartans, 443-156, with the Bruins’ defense holding MSU to 2-for-11 on third down and allowing just 11 first downs as the Spartans surrendered 25 first downs.

It was over when ...

The Spartans went into halftime trailing, 14-7, despite a rash of early injuries and an inability to move the ball. UCLA outgained MSU, 189-74, in the first half, 105-32 on the ground and 84-42 through the air. Both teams had two turnovers.

But the Bruins put the game away with two third-quarter scores by turning up the tempo on offense. Quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, who suffered a left knee injury just before halftime, stayed in the game and delivered a third-and-1 sneak for 3 yards. He followed it up on the next play with a 63-yard TD pass on a deep post route to Brian Rowe Jr., over the single coverage of MSU freshman cornerback Jeremiah Favorite.

Coffman threw a fifth straight incomplete pass after a review overturned what initially was ruled a 7-yard catch by Chrishon McCray. MSU punted and the Bruins grinded at the worn-down defense for a 10-play, 70-yard drive that kept the Spartans on the field for 5:27. UCLA exploited the gassed group with two hurry-up runs from Anthony Woods for 10 yards and a 4-yard TD that made it 28-7 with 5:27 left in the third quarter.

Coffman got sacked on two of the next three MSU plays after that score and was dropped three times in the game. Hannan took over when the Spartans got the ball back and finished the game, also absorbing another big sack on a late drive in the fourth quarter.

Players of the game

Devin Vaught and Nikai Martinez did their part to make things easier for Coffman in his starting debut, with a pair of long first-half fumble returns.

Vaught ripped the ball from UCLA’s Wayne Knight and snatched it immediately, spinning out of traffic for a 56-yard return with a little over 6 minutes left in the first quarter. Two plays later, Coffman hit a wide open Kenneth Williams for his first collegiate TD pass, a swing pass to the left for a 14-yard score.

The Bruins took advantage of Williams’ fumble deep in the Spartans’ territory, tying it on a Jaivian Thomas 1-yard TD run, early in the second quarter. Then with 6:23 left, Vaught knocked the ball free again from Thomas, and Martinez scooped it up for a 56-yard return to set up MSU again in scoring territory. However, Coffman’s pass for Bryson Williams was picked off two plays later and Donavyn Pellot took it 67 yards the other way. Knight scored a 1-yard TD five plays later to give UCLA a 14-7 lead it carried into halftime.

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Vaught was having a tremendous game until he got hurt. The junior transfer from Maine had eight tackles, the two forced fumbles, the one long return and another pass breakup.

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The Spartans’ 76-man travel roster took multiple major blows in the first half.

Parrish got hurt on his second carry just 1:34 into the game and did not return with an apparent right leg injury. Roberts, the anchor of the defensive line all season, injured his left leg and left the game with 8:39 left in the opening quarter. He was on the sidelines in street clothes after halftime walking with crutches.

Right guard Sharpe left the game with 6:10 left in the second quarter. He returned to the sideline in uniform after halftime and had his helmet on, appearing available to play, but Luka Vincic replaced him at right guard for the second half.

Then with 3:50 left in the third quarter, Vaught made a nice open-field tackle on UCLA’s Anthony Woods. But Vaught dropped to the turf with yet another injury, leaving the game after trainers examined his right leg.

Milivojevic and Patterson were ruled out Saturday morning after being listed as questionable since Wednesday. Starting linebacker Jordan Hall (left arm) made the trip but was out. Starting cornerbacks Tre Bell and Tyran Chappell and their backup Charles Brantley also remained out, along with wide receiver Charles Taplin.

Next up

The Spartans have a week off to rest and heal in preparation for their rivalry road trip much closer to home against Michigan on Nov. 7. Kickoff time and broadcast info remain to be determined.

The Wolverines dropped to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in Big Ten play with a 13-6 overtime loss to No. 6 Indiana on Saturday in Ann Arbor. U-M travels to Rutgers next Saturday (12:30 p.m./BTN).

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