EAST LANSING, Mich. -- — Jalen Berger scored three touchdowns and Nico Iamaleava threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to lead UCLA to a 38-13 victory over Michigan State.

Berger, who transferred to UCLA from Michigan State after the 2023 season, ran for 83 yards on 13 carries and also had three catches for 24 yards.

“It felt good being back here, but we just treated this like any other opponent,” Berger said. “They’re just someone in the way of the mission.”

UCLA coach Tim Skipper said he was happy to see Berger have a good game against his former team.

“(Berger’s) been working hard since I’ve been here, since I’ve been seeing him work,” Skipper said. “He’s a great kid. He doesn’t smile and all that much. He just goes to work and does his thing. I’m excited for him. It’s good for him to have a good game here. I know that was personal for him.”

It is the second straight win for the Bruins (2-4, 2-1 Big Ten) after dropping the first four games of the season.

After the Spartans (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) scored first on quarterback Aidan Chiles’ 2-yard run, UCLA dominated the rest of the first half and ran off 38 straight points.

Mateen Bhaghani nailed a 47-yard field goal, Iamaleava tossed touchdown passes to Berger and Titus Mokiao-Atimalala as UCLA jumped to a 24-7 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Jaivian Thomas added a 1-yard scoring run and Berger had his second touchdown catch.

Chiles was forced from the game with 11:12 left in the third quarter when he was sacked by Keanu Williams. Chiles was evaluated in the medical tent and watched the remainder of the game from the sideline. He was replaced by Alessio Milivojevic who threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Nick Marsh in the fourth quarter.

“He got banged up pretty good and was not available the rest of the time,” said Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith.

The takeaway

UCLA: The Bruins continue to look like a completely different team since coach DeShaun Foster was fired Sept. 14. Over the last two weeks they beat then-No. 7 Penn State at home and Michigan State on the road. After scoring 57 points in their first four games, they have totaled 80 points in the last two.

Skipper said his staff has been stressing to the players to decide whether they are “one-hit wonders” following the win over Penn State.

“That was the message, starting on Sunday, and we preach it every single day,” Skipper said. “We just wanted to cement who we really were. That was the whole thing about it. And we wanted to come out and play 60 minutes of football, and we did that today.”

Michigan State: The Spartans were outplayed in all facets of the game. They allowed a fake punt, fumbled the ball twice, failed to convert on four fourth down conversions and the defense allowed 418 yards.

“Just not good enough,” Smith said. “I’ll start with myself. We did not have a bunch of good energy today. Lost one-on-ones. We’re at the halfway point, 3-3, got beat the last three weeks.”

Up next

UCLA hosts Maryland on Oct. 18 .

Michigan State visits Indiana on Oct. 18.

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