Post-Game Notes: UCLA

GAME NOTES
• Saturday was MSU's 109th Homecoming game since 1915 . . . the only two years Homecoming was not held in that span were 1943 and 2020 . . . MSU is now 71-35-3 in Homecoming games.

• Senior safety Malik Spencer was the game captain . . . Spencer joined season captains graduate linebacker Sam Edwards, graduate center Matt Gulbin and junior quarterback Aidan Chiles for the coin toss.

SERIES NOTES
• Saturday marked the first meeting between Michigan State and UCLA singe 1974, and just the seventh all-time . . . UCLA now leads the all-time series, 4-3, including 2-1 in games played in East Lansing . . . the Spartans won the first three games in the series, including wins in the 1954 and 1956 Rose Bowl Games, along with the 1965 season opener in East Lansing, but UCLA has won the last four games between the two schools . . . the teams have faced each other three times in the Rose Bowl Game (MSU with a 2-1 record with victories in 1954 and 1956; lost in 1966).

• MSU head coach Jonathan Smith is now 2-1 all-time against UCLA, as he went 2-0 against the Bruins during his six-year Oregon State tenure, with wins over UCLA in 2019 (48-31) and 2023 (36-24).

OFFENSE
• Michigan State scored on its opening possession for the fifth time in the six games . . . the Spartans had scored a TD on their first drive of the first four games of the season, before not scoring on their opening drive in game five of the season at Nebraska (10/4/25).

• Junior quarterback Aidan Chiles scored a rushing TD for the third-straight game, the longest streak of his career after three career streaks of back-to-back games . . . it was Chiles' team-leading fifth rushing TD of the season, with all five coming in the last four games, after registering his first career multi rushing TD outing last week at Nebraska . . . Chiles now has 14 total TDs on the season, throwing for nine and rushing for five . . . he now has eight rushing TDs during his two-year Spartan career and 10 for his collegiate career after two during his freshman season at Oregon State in 2023.

• Chiles was 8-of-17 passing for 66 yards and six rushing for 9 yards and the TD, before leaving early in the second half with an injury.

• With his fifth completion, Chiles became the 76th active FBS quarterback with 300 career completions, now with 303 for his career.

• Redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic was 8-of-18 passing for 100 yards, all new career highs, passing for a TD for the second game in a row.

• Sophomore wide receiver Nick Marsh snared a season-high seven passes for 77 yards, the second-most of the season behind his top mark of the season of 94 yards vs. Youngstown State (9/13/25).

• With his first catch of the afternoon, Marsh now has a catch in all 17 of his games as a Spartan, including multiple receptions in the last 16 games, after one catch in his collegiate debut.

• Marsh caught his fourth TD catch of the season and first since tallying two in game two vs. Boston College (9/6/25).

• Saturday's seven catches marked Marsh's fifth game with four or more catches as part of his 11th career game with four or more receptions . . . the 77 yards marked his third game this season with 50+ yards and eighth of his career.

• Six of Marsh's seven catches went for first down or TD, including three on same drive in fourth quarter, with two going for first downs, a 22-yard catch on 3rd-and-5, and then was target on three-straight passes, with a first down, incomplete and the third going for a TD.

• Marsh now has 989 career yards and needs just 11 yards to reach 1,000 career yards and become 49th Spartan receiver to reach the 1,000 receiving yards milestone.

• Sophomore running back Makhi Frazier rushed for team-highs of 12 carries for 58 yards, marking the second game in a row he's rushed for 58 yards.

DEFENSE
• Michigan State had five players on defense make their first starts of the season, including three of those five making their first starts of their collegiate careers . . . freshman defensive back Aydan West, redshirt-sophomore defensive back Chance Rucker, graduate defensive back Dontavius Nash, redshirt-freshman defensive lineman Kekai Burnett and graduate defensive lineman Ru'Quan Buckley all made their first starts of the 2025 season.

• West and Burnett were both making the first starts of their collegiate careers, as they are in their first and second years, respectively, as Spartans . . . Buckley also made the first start of his collegiate career, as he did not start any games during his nine games played during his three years at Nebraska (2021-23) and his 12 games last season in his first as a Spartan.

• Rucker made his 10th start of his college career as a Spartan after eight in 2023 and one in 2024.

• Nash made his first start as a Spartan; it was the 10th of his collegiate career after nine in his two years at East Carolina with three in 2023 and six in 2024.

• MSU's defense held UCLA scoreless in the fourth quarter, marking the sixth time that the Spartans held the opposition off the scoreboard in a quarter, joining three times in the season-opener vs. Western Michigan (1st, 2nd, 3rd quarter; 8/29/25); along with once each vs. Boston College (1st; 9/6/25); Nebraska (2nd; 10/4/25) and UCLA (4th; 10/11/25).

• Junior linebacker Jordan Hall led the Spartan defense in tackles for the second straight game, notching seven stops Saturday.

• Hall has now led MSU's defense in tackles in four of the six games this season, also topping the team in the Boston College contest (9/13/25) and the season opener vs. Western Michigan (8/29/25).

• Hall has posted seven or more tackles in four of the five complete games played.

• Redshirt junior defensive lineman Alex VanSumeren notched his season-high six stops for the second time in the last three games, matching his season and career-best . . . Van Sumeren has logged four or more tackles in each of the last three games with four last week vs. Nebraska, as part of four outings with four or more stops after five in the season-opener vs. Western Michigan (8/29/25).

• VanSumeren added 0.5 sack on a 0.5 tackle for loss, as he has posted at least 0.5 TFL in the last two games and three of the six games this season.

• Redshirt senior defensive back Armorion Smith posted six tackles, marking the second-highest of the season behind his career-best of eight stops vs. Boston College (9/6/25).

SPECIAL TEAMS
• Ray Guy Award Watch List member junior punter Ryan Eckley punted three times for a 45.0 ypp average with a long of 48 yards, marking his first game this season with an average under 50 yards out of the five games in which he punted more than once, as well as only the second time without a punt of 50+ yards.

• Redshirt freshman Martin Connington missed a PAT for the first time this season after making the previous 14 of the season, going 13-of-13 entering Saturday and making the first extra point on MSU's opening TD, but then missing the PAT on MSU's fourth-quarter score . . . Connington did not attempt a field goal for the second straight game after making 5-of-6 on the season.

Players Mentioned

Ru'Quan Buckley

Kekai Burnett

Aidan Chiles

Martin Connington

Ryan Eckley

Sam Edwards

Makhi Frazier

Matt Gulbin

Jordan Hall

Nick Marsh

Alessio Milivojevic

Dontavius Nash

Chance Rucker

Armorion Smith

Malik Spencer

Alex VanSumeren

Aydan West

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