Michigan State’s offensive outlook for Saturday at UCLA is suddenly cloudy, with the Spartans listing starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic and starting running back Jaziun Patterson as questionable on Wednesday’s Big Ten availability report.
The report also put starting left tackle Ben Murawski in the questionable group, along with starting linebacker Brady Pretzlaff, linebacker Caleb Wheatland and running back Darrin Jones Jr. Murawski and Pretzlaff both missed last week’s game against Northwestern.
Milivojevic and Patterson both finished the loss to Northwestern and have played in all seven games this season. Milivojevic entered the year as MSU’s starter and has kept the job all the way through the first seven games.
In the 24-21 loss to Northwestern, the third-year sophomore went 19 of 30 for 216 yards, threw two touchdown passes and scored once on the ground. If he can’t go at the Rose Bowl, true freshman Kayd Coffman would likely be next up.
Patterson’s role has grown since former starter Cam Edwards suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4 against Nebraska. The Iowa transfer has taken over as the lead back and has produced 227 rushing yards and three touchdowns over the three games since Edwards went down.
Murawski, a fifth-year senior transfer from UConn, had started the first six games at left tackle before sitting out last Saturday. In his place, right tackle Rakeem Johnson slid over to the left side, while Robert Wright Jr. started at right tackle. Wright also sees a few snaps there each week off the bench.
Pretzlaff was one of the other notable questionable names after missing the Northwestern game, and Wheatland and Jones Jr. joined him on the same designation.
MSU will again be without linebacker Jordan Hall, cornerbacks Tre Bell, Tyran Chappell, Charles Brantley and Keshawn Williams, and on offense the Spartans ruled out quarterback Cam Fancher, receiver Charles Taplin, fullback Jay Coyne, offensive lineman Tristan Comer and tight end Joe Caudill.
Hall will miss his second straight week and third game overall as the two-time captain continues to deal with multiple injuries since the opener. Bell and Brantley are set to miss a second straight game at cornerback, while Chappell has not played since Week 3 at Notre Dame.
Updated availability reports are due Thursday, Friday and two hours before kickoff on game day.
Michigan State heads to the Rose Bowl trying to end a five-game losing streak against a UCLA team that is 6-0 and ranked No. 9.
Kickoff is Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS.
“Huge challenge in front of us, top-10 team on the road,” MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “They're playing at a very high level, so it's gonna be a great challenge. It'll be an opportunity for our guys to play in one of the great cathedrals of college football in the Rose Bowl.
In Other News...
Tom Izzo Sent A Clear Message To MSU Fans In Loss
Tom Izzo spent part of Michigan States exhibition loss doing something that rarely comes with a scoreboard: trying to calm the building down. During UConns visit to the Breslin Center on Oct. 20, the crowd turned hostile toward Huskies coach Dan Hurley, and Izzo made it clear he wanted the chants to stop while the two sides played a game that carried real early-season buzz despite being an exhibition. No. 5 UConn left East Lansing with a 78-70 win over No. 6 Michigan State, but the night also carried the kind of edge that comes with two highly ranked programs meeting in front of a fired-up crowd.
Afterward, both coaches kept the focus on respect. Izzo and Hurley each praised the others team and coaching, which fit the tone of a matchup that had plenty of intensity without crossing the line into a full-blown showdown. For Michigan State, the result mattered less than the reminder that the Spartans are already in the kind of high-profile games where the environment can tilt fast, and Izzo seemed intent on making sure the message from the home side was about basketball, not the crowd. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Heads To UCLA With A Sudden QB Problem
Michigan State is heading into its trip to UCLA with its quarterback picture suddenly in flux, and that is not the kind of issue a team wants to be sorting out on the road. Starter Alessio Milivojevic is listed as questionable because of an unspecified injury, while backup Cam Fancher is already out, leaving the Spartans to consider other options behind center as the week moves on.
If Milivojevic cannot go, Michigan State may have to turn to true freshman Kayd Coffman or second-year quarterback Leo Hannan. Coffman arrives with only limited game experience but came in as a highly rated recruit in the 2026 class, which at least gives the Spartans some long-term upside even as they try to piece together the short-term answer for a crucial Big Ten matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremy Fears Jr Just Gave Michigan State Fans Real Reason To Dream
The Associated Press preseason All-America team gave Michigan State another jolt of national attention, and it came with Jeremy Fears Jr. at the center of it. The Spartans guard was named preseason Player of the Year for 2026-27 and came close to being a unanimous All-American, a sign of how quickly his stock has risen entering the new season. It is the kind of recognition that carries beyond Lansing, especially for a program that always measures itself against the national picture.
The AP list was built around five returning players from last season, with Thomas Haugh, Tyler Tanner, David Mirkovic and Motiejus Krivas joining Fears on the team. For Michigan State, the bigger takeaway is what Fears placement says about the ceiling of this roster and the attention that comes with it. Preseason honors do not decide anything, but they do sharpen expectations, and this one gives Spartan fans plenty of reason to believe the conversation around their team could be bigger than usual. [Read more 🡒]