Michigan State will host UCLA on Saturday at noon Eastern Time for its homecoming weekend — the 109th homecoming game in MSU program history.  The game can be watched on the Big Ten Network. 

The Spartans enter the matchup with a 3-2 overall record and 0-2 mark in Big Ten play. Michigan State has dropped its last two games, which were both on the road, at USC and at Nebraska. MSU looks to get back on a winning track against UCLA this weekend. 

Meanwhile, a suddenly revitalized UCLA team is coming off of its first win of the season, and it was an enormous one. After an 0-3 start, which included losses to Utah, UNLV and New Mexico, the Bruins fired head coach DeShaun Foster and named Tim Skipper as interim head coach. UCLA lost its first game under Skipper on the road at Northwestern, 17-14, to fall to 0-4.

Just when it seemed like the Bruins were ready to fold, they shocked the college football world with a massive upset win over then No. 7-ranked Penn State, 42-37, last weekend. Tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel was elevated to the play-caller role and it paid off for the Bruins. 

Now UCLA comes to East Lansing with a 1-4 overall record and a 1-1 record in conference play. What appeared to be, on paper, an easy victory for the Spartans on homecoming weekend is now a much more intriguing matchup with the Bruins having the momentum right now. 

Here are three things to watch for Saturday's game between UCLA and Michigan State.

Which version of UCLA shows up? 

Michigan State's coaching staff is well aware of the confidence UCLA now has after the win over Penn State. Head coach Jonathan Smith called UCLA "galvanized" and said the Bruins have some "new life to them." Meanwhile, MSU defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Joe Rossi noted the UCLA team that beat Penn State is the team that is coming to East Lansing and to "forget about those other four games," and that "they certainly have our attention." MSU offensive coordinator Brain Lindgren mentioned that's he "impressed" with what he's seen from UCLA and it will be a "challenge" for the Spartans. 

Make no mistake about it, that big win changes things for UCLA. But, again on paper, Michigan State still appears to be the better team. In fact, as of press time, the Spartans are favored by 8.5 points. The Bruins still rank toward the bottom of the Big Ten — and the country — in many notable statistical categories. According to ESPN's Bill Connelly's SP+ rankings —  "a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency" — UCLA ranks 86th nationally, while Michigan State is 22 spots better at No. 64 (which isn't exactly a high ranking here either). 

UCLA will also have to make the cross-country trek from Los Angeles, California to East Lansing, Michigan and play a game at noon Eastern Time, which is equivalent to 9 a.m. Pacific Time. Obviously, the UCLA's players' body clocks will need to adjust to that time zone change and will have to fight through jet lag. While UCLA's win over Penn State was incredibly impressive, it was played at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California after the Nittany Lions had to deal with the long travel. It will be interesting to watch how the Bruins handle it.

While changes have been made with Skipper and Neuheisel now leading the charge, and there is certainly a new energy for this squad, much of UCLA's personnel remains the the same from the early part of the season. Will UCLA ride the momentum and put together back-to-back upset wins? Or will the version of UCLA we saw in the first four games resurface? Can Michigan State put an end to its current two-game losing streak? Time will tell. 

Nico Iamaleava versus Aidan Chiles

Saturday will bring a thrilling matchup at quarterback between UCLA's Nico Iamaleava and Michigan State's Aidan Chiles. Of course, quarterbacks don't face each other head-to-head, but which signal-caller can lead their team to a win?

Chiles and Iamaleava are very familiar with one another as they grew up playing against each other and went to rival high schools in Downey, California. Both also started at different programs, as Chiles began his career at Oregon State before following Smith and company to Michigan State in 2024, and Iamaleava began his career at Tennessee before transferring to UCLA this past offseason. Now they're both starting for Big Ten programs and will face off this Saturday. 

After the rough 0-4 start to the campaign, Iamaleava put together a great performance in the win over the Nittany Lions. He completed 17 out of 24 passes (70.8%) for 166 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 128 rushing yards and three additional scores. On the 2025 season as a whole thus far (five games), Iamaleava has completed 98 out of 148 passing attempts (66.2%) for 954 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also rushed for 332 yards and four more touchdowns. 

Meanwhile, Chiles started the 2025 season strong, but many of the issues that plagued him during the 2024 season showed up in Michigan State's most recent loss to Nebraska. In the 38-27 loss to the Cornhuskers, Chiles completed just nine out of 23 passes (39.1%) for 85 yards and two interceptions. He did not throw a touchdown pass, but did have two rushing touchdowns. On the 2025 season as a whole, Chiles, has completed 79 out of 125 passing attempts (63.2%) for 953 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions. He has added 177 rushing yards and four scores on the ground. 

Each quarterback can make plays with both their arm and their legs. It will come down to which struggling defense can stop the other one more often. MSU's defense did show progress against the Cornhuskers, but it wasn't enough. 

UCLA run defense vs. Michigan State run offense

Well, let's try this again. In this column last week, I highlighted Nebraska's struggling run defense and noted that the Spartans had an opportunity to take advantage of the vulnerable Cornhuskers on the ground, as they allowed 173.5 rushing yards per game heading into last week's contest against Michigan State. Instead, Nebraska surprisingly held MSU to just 84 rushing yards on 38 attempts, which is 2.2 yards per carry. 

The only Big Ten team that is worse than Nebraska at defending the run is UCLA. The Bruins' run defense has been abysmal, as they allow 217.6 rushing yards per game, which not only ranks dead last in the Big Ten, but also ranks 127th nationally out 134 FBS teams. The Bruins are also 5.3 yards per carry.

Michigan State enters this weekend's matchup against UCLA averaging 140 yards rushing yards per game on the ground, which ranks 12th in the Big Ten and just 94th nationally. MSU hasn't been extremely productive on the ground, but if there was ever an opportunity to get right in the run game, the UCLA defense provides that. 

Michigan State's running game is led by running back Makhi Frazier, who has rushed 75 times for 325 yards (4.3 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. Chiles is second on the team with his aforementioned 177 rushing yards and leads the team with four rushing touchdowns. He gives the Spartans a dynamic option at quarterback due to his ability to make plays with his legs. Running backs Brandon Tullis and Elijah Tau-Elijah Tau-Tollvier will likely be involved on Saturday to some degree as well, but expect Frazier to lead the charge in the backfield once again. 

While Chiles and the running backs need to do their part, MSU's offensive line has to play better against UCLA than it did against Nebraska — not only in the running game, but also in pass protection. The offensive line has to generate a push and create run lanes, and has to protect Chiles better after allowing four sacks and countless pressures last week.

It's an obvious thing to say, but the team that can run the ball better and control the clock will likely come out a winner in this contest.