Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: MSU Athletic Communications
10/26/2026 11:16:00 AM | Football
Michigan State Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Opening statement…
Disappointing outcome. I thought at times today there were some really good things. Come on the road, battle the No. 9 team in the country, felt pretty good about how we started. I thought the plan was being operated and executed pretty well. As the game went along, we just gave up too many big plays, turned the ball over at an opportune time, and then, you know, gave up the big explosive touchdown to start the second half. Really disappointed in the outcome. I thought we had a good plan coming in, and just didn't coach the guys well enough to execute it for four quarters. So congratulations to UCLA. They got a darn good football team and, we'll get back safe and sound. We need the bye week. We've got to get some guys back, hopefully, and some guys stepped up again today.
On starting a third-string quarterback (Kayd Coffman) at UCLA…
Yeah, I think he just was really poised. I thought he started the game really well. I didn't sense that it was too big of a moment for him leading into it. I'm sure there are a couple of plays he'd like back, but I'm proud of both him and Leo (Hannan), especially Leo coming home here to Southern California. To get an opportunity to get into a game. Both guys got reps, you know, ones and twos reps this week. We had confidence in both guys, and we just felt like, as we were kind of sputtering a little bit, to go to Leo there. I'm just gonna give Leo a chance, and there was some good things that Leo did moving the ball.
On what he thought of Kayd Coffman's play…
So all the quarterbacks kind of started with Nick's offense (back in January), kind of at a level playing field, if that makes sense, where it would have been a lot harder for him if he came in in the summer. So for him to be with us the whole time, we had great confidence in him. And, you know, there's ebb and flow, each practice of each day, but he really works his tail off. He is one of the first guys in the building, one of the last guys to leave, even though he's not necessarily the starter going in to the season, and to see him really commit to being the best teammate he can be. I mean, you guys don't get a chance to watch practice, but a lot of times he's running the opponent's offense too. So you get Leo when we get those reps, and both those guys have been doing a really good job. And so I'm proud of him. I mean, listen, it's not easy to get your first start against the No. 9 team in the country, and we're just really proud of him, and he's going to learn and grow from every rep that he takes.
On the teams' takeaways on defense…
Yeah, I mean, it gave us a chance to win a game. You know, we unfortunately turned the ball right back over when we got the concept called from the boundary. We got a huge one to lead to the first score, and then the second one, we got a chance to go in and get a lead going into the half. We turned the ball right back over. You could say 10 to 14-point swing.
Michigan State graduate center Trent Fraley
On responsibility to keep the quarterbacks mentally sharp…
Honestly it's just the same thing. We want to keep the pocket as clean as possible to make it easy on him to just do his reads and throw them all to open receivers. That's something we need to get on today as an offensive line. We just need to make it cleaner for it him.
On quarterback leadership
Honestly, they did a great job, you know, coming into the game. I don't think there were any miscommunications. Obviously, we'll go back, watch the film and what not, but they did a great job stepping in and really doing their part for this team.
On working with Kenneth Williams
I mean, it was great. It doesn't change much. Obviously, it was explosive today, he got out there, and he's a great running back. I mean, like I said before, our running backs are super deep, so I trust anybody that's going to go back in.
Michigan State graduate edge defender Kenny Soares Jr.
On seeing on-field injuries and keeping the fight…
You just got to know the difference between being reactive and having a reaction. Just gotta be able to keep your emotions and stay straight. That's it. I mean, it's a type of game where obviously we've seen a lot of guys go down at any given moment. That's the reality, and it sucks, but that's the reality. (Ben Roberts) being back on the sideline with us when he went down and then came back, and the first thing he said, was, he didn't have his head down. He just told us, keep going, fight for him. And that's what we did.
On going against UCLA's rushing attacks…
Great running backs. I've known Wayne for a while now, from back to high school. He has always been a great back and forth, and I've always been keeping up with his journey as well. They have a great spot, and obviously, they're ranked top 10 in the country. We just got to be able to, you know, continue to worry about us and, you know, just a hard process and be able to go back to the drawing board and just prepare ourselves.
UCLA Head Coach Bob Chesney
Opening statement...
Obviously, anytime you have a win ... they're not easy to come by, so to be able to end up with a win is a big deal. 7-0, obviously, is a big deal. That first half was not our type of football, not really how we want to play the game, with two fumbles, for them to have 100 and some yards of returns on those two. But what a great job by the defense to step up and get a stop on one, and then Donnie [Donavyn Pellot] with the interception and flipped the field right back again. That was a big-time deal. That's 14 points. Let's talk about Ty [Dieffenbach] a little bit in that situation, because he's the one that actually runs down the field and holds the kid up, and then the pursuit of [Brandon] Rowe [Jr.] and Aiden Mizell never, ever quitting, playing to the whistle. That matters more than anything, almost, that we did today. It was sloppy, but in the end we got a win, and I'm proud of our guys.
On Ty Dieffenbach coming back from apparent injury to throw a big pass at the start of the third quarter...
It was just a cleat on a weird spot where it's pretty sensitive and felt nervy to him. But in the end, when he came in and moved it around, he's like 'I'm perfectly fine.' But that ball, I thought was really good to B. Rowe. We needed to take that shot. I think there were two others that he could have taken, maybe a third, and we'll get better.
On Ty Dieffenbach making a stop on a fumble return and what it means to Pellot to get the interception...
It's 14 points that Ty ends up saving there. And Donnie, even if you get a stop, you're on a short field now, or a long field, and Donnie being able to flip the field is a big deal. Not the best coverage on the other side of the field by us, if the quarterback just looks the other way, but luckily for us, we got away with one there and put ourselves in position to then be able to score. I thought Ty's response at that moment of making sure he held that kid up until help showed up, it's everything. It's 14 points, right? It's realistically 14 points, and I thought he did a great job.
On playing a cleaner second half...
Thanks for finding a positive there. Yes, one hundred percent, their response was phenomenal to come out and get the ball first and score immediately, and then three and out, and then it just was on. I thought our guys, again, did a really good job. There were moments there in the fourth, too, and the late third, where that box got pretty loaded, and we should have taken some shots on the outside. But at the same point, you're trying to run this clock out and get out of here with the win, ultimately, and could have taken a little more risk if we wanted to. But I thought we managed it well enough to get a victory here.
On the team's running effort...
I think it's a brotherhood in that room, and it's not the easiest thing to do, but I think when you go through a physical game like we did the last two, and then again today, you find that you really need each other. As much as you might want to be the guy that carries the ball 40 times a game, it's not feasible to exist at this level in this league with that many carries, with that many hits that your body's got to take. So I think they respect each other and are absolutely each other's biggest fans and do such a good job of finding their way into what they do well and, again, just supporting each other. That's a room that is talented, physical, tough and works as hard as any other room out there, and it's cool to see them together working.
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Opening statement…
Disappointing outcome. I thought at times today there were some really good things. Come on the road, battle the No. 9 team in the country, felt pretty good about how we started. I thought the plan was being operated and executed pretty well. As the game went along, we just gave up too many big plays, turned the ball over at an opportune time, and then, you know, gave up the big explosive touchdown to start the second half. Really disappointed in the outcome. I thought we had a good plan coming in, and just didn't coach the guys well enough to execute it for four quarters. So congratulations to UCLA. They got a darn good football team and, we'll get back safe and sound. We need the bye week. We've got to get some guys back, hopefully, and some guys stepped up again today.
On starting a third-string quarterback (Kayd Coffman) at UCLA…
Yeah, I think he just was really poised. I thought he started the game really well. I didn't sense that it was too big of a moment for him leading into it. I'm sure there are a couple of plays he'd like back, but I'm proud of both him and Leo (Hannan), especially Leo coming home here to Southern California. To get an opportunity to get into a game. Both guys got reps, you know, ones and twos reps this week. We had confidence in both guys, and we just felt like, as we were kind of sputtering a little bit, to go to Leo there. I'm just gonna give Leo a chance, and there was some good things that Leo did moving the ball.
On what he thought of Kayd Coffman's play…
So all the quarterbacks kind of started with Nick's offense (back in January), kind of at a level playing field, if that makes sense, where it would have been a lot harder for him if he came in in the summer. So for him to be with us the whole time, we had great confidence in him. And, you know, there's ebb and flow, each practice of each day, but he really works his tail off. He is one of the first guys in the building, one of the last guys to leave, even though he's not necessarily the starter going in to the season, and to see him really commit to being the best teammate he can be. I mean, you guys don't get a chance to watch practice, but a lot of times he's running the opponent's offense too. So you get Leo when we get those reps, and both those guys have been doing a really good job. And so I'm proud of him. I mean, listen, it's not easy to get your first start against the No. 9 team in the country, and we're just really proud of him, and he's going to learn and grow from every rep that he takes.
On the teams' takeaways on defense…
Yeah, I mean, it gave us a chance to win a game. You know, we unfortunately turned the ball right back over when we got the concept called from the boundary. We got a huge one to lead to the first score, and then the second one, we got a chance to go in and get a lead going into the half. We turned the ball right back over. You could say 10 to 14-point swing.
Michigan State graduate center Trent Fraley
On responsibility to keep the quarterbacks mentally sharp…
Honestly it's just the same thing. We want to keep the pocket as clean as possible to make it easy on him to just do his reads and throw them all to open receivers. That's something we need to get on today as an offensive line. We just need to make it cleaner for it him.
On quarterback leadership
Honestly, they did a great job, you know, coming into the game. I don't think there were any miscommunications. Obviously, we'll go back, watch the film and what not, but they did a great job stepping in and really doing their part for this team.
On working with Kenneth Williams
I mean, it was great. It doesn't change much. Obviously, it was explosive today, he got out there, and he's a great running back. I mean, like I said before, our running backs are super deep, so I trust anybody that's going to go back in.
Michigan State graduate edge defender Kenny Soares Jr.
On seeing on-field injuries and keeping the fight…
You just got to know the difference between being reactive and having a reaction. Just gotta be able to keep your emotions and stay straight. That's it. I mean, it's a type of game where obviously we've seen a lot of guys go down at any given moment. That's the reality, and it sucks, but that's the reality. (Ben Roberts) being back on the sideline with us when he went down and then came back, and the first thing he said, was, he didn't have his head down. He just told us, keep going, fight for him. And that's what we did.
On going against UCLA's rushing attacks…
Great running backs. I've known Wayne for a while now, from back to high school. He has always been a great back and forth, and I've always been keeping up with his journey as well. They have a great spot, and obviously, they're ranked top 10 in the country. We just got to be able to, you know, continue to worry about us and, you know, just a hard process and be able to go back to the drawing board and just prepare ourselves.
UCLA Head Coach Bob Chesney
Opening statement...
Obviously, anytime you have a win ... they're not easy to come by, so to be able to end up with a win is a big deal. 7-0, obviously, is a big deal. That first half was not our type of football, not really how we want to play the game, with two fumbles, for them to have 100 and some yards of returns on those two. But what a great job by the defense to step up and get a stop on one, and then Donnie [Donavyn Pellot] with the interception and flipped the field right back again. That was a big-time deal. That's 14 points. Let's talk about Ty [Dieffenbach] a little bit in that situation, because he's the one that actually runs down the field and holds the kid up, and then the pursuit of [Brandon] Rowe [Jr.] and Aiden Mizell never, ever quitting, playing to the whistle. That matters more than anything, almost, that we did today. It was sloppy, but in the end we got a win, and I'm proud of our guys.
On Ty Dieffenbach coming back from apparent injury to throw a big pass at the start of the third quarter...
It was just a cleat on a weird spot where it's pretty sensitive and felt nervy to him. But in the end, when he came in and moved it around, he's like 'I'm perfectly fine.' But that ball, I thought was really good to B. Rowe. We needed to take that shot. I think there were two others that he could have taken, maybe a third, and we'll get better.
On Ty Dieffenbach making a stop on a fumble return and what it means to Pellot to get the interception...
It's 14 points that Ty ends up saving there. And Donnie, even if you get a stop, you're on a short field now, or a long field, and Donnie being able to flip the field is a big deal. Not the best coverage on the other side of the field by us, if the quarterback just looks the other way, but luckily for us, we got away with one there and put ourselves in position to then be able to score. I thought Ty's response at that moment of making sure he held that kid up until help showed up, it's everything. It's 14 points, right? It's realistically 14 points, and I thought he did a great job.
On playing a cleaner second half...
Thanks for finding a positive there. Yes, one hundred percent, their response was phenomenal to come out and get the ball first and score immediately, and then three and out, and then it just was on. I thought our guys, again, did a really good job. There were moments there in the fourth, too, and the late third, where that box got pretty loaded, and we should have taken some shots on the outside. But at the same point, you're trying to run this clock out and get out of here with the win, ultimately, and could have taken a little more risk if we wanted to. But I thought we managed it well enough to get a victory here.
On the team's running effort...
I think it's a brotherhood in that room, and it's not the easiest thing to do, but I think when you go through a physical game like we did the last two, and then again today, you find that you really need each other. As much as you might want to be the guy that carries the ball 40 times a game, it's not feasible to exist at this level in this league with that many carries, with that many hits that your body's got to take. So I think they respect each other and are absolutely each other's biggest fans and do such a good job of finding their way into what they do well and, again, just supporting each other. That's a room that is talented, physical, tough and works as hard as any other room out there, and it's cool to see them together working.
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Players Mentioned
QB
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OL
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DL
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EDGE
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RB
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