Meet Kayd Coffman, MSU's QB1 with Milivojevic and Fancher Out
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Michigan State is down its top two quarterbacks now.
The Spartans have been without QB2 Cam Fancher for a few weeks with a leg injury, but now starter Alessio Milivojevic is "not expected to play" with an undisclosed injury, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel. That clears the way for true freshman quarterback Kayd Coffman to start against No. 9 UCLA (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS).
Coffman's Season So Far
Coffman enters his first career start in college with just one appearance and zero passes attempted. The only time he's come into the game this year was in garbage time at Wisconsin, where he recorded three rush attempts for minus-1 yard.
There was probably at least a bit of discussion within MSU's walls this week about whether to go with Coffman or second-year QB Leo Hannan. Coffman seemed to grab the QB3 job during camp, though, and the fact he was the one to go in the game at Wisconsin probably solidified that somewhat. Hannan should be the backup for Saturday's game, and freshman walk-on Peyton Babbit is probably the current QB3.
Coffman's got a heck of a challenge in front of him. UCLA has one of the better defenses in the Big Ten, and it's probably unlikely Coffman has gotten many reps with the team's first-team offense before the lead-up to this game, though there was probably an uptick in those reps after Fancher went down.
The status of running back Jaziun Patterson and left tackle Ben Murawski is also not publicly known as of Saturday morning. Both of them have been listed as questionable --- alongside Milivojevic --- in each of the team's three midweek availability reports before this game at UCLA. The team will have a final gameday report that will go out two hours before kickoff at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET.
Certainly, the starting running back's and left tackle's availability is going to have an impact on the quarterback. Michigan State would probably like to make things as easy as possible for Coffman on Saturday, and that's difficult without Patterson and/or Murawski.
Coffman's Recruitment to MSU
It's still going to be interesting to see how Coffman fares in this one. He's a big part of this program's future. Coffman was one of the cornerstones of Michigan State's 2026 recruiting class, locking in with MSU relatively quickly and staying put despite the coaching change.
Coffman finished ranked 274th overall in the class of '26 on the 247Sports Composite rankings. He attended East Kentwood High School in Michigan and was the No. 6 overall prospect in the state. Coffman was also the third-highest get for the Spartans that cycle, only behind offensive tackle Collin Campbell and wide receiver Samson Gash.
What To Expect
Coffman's skill set is more like Fancher's than Milivojevic's. He's a dual-threat guy, so don't be surprised if Michigan State dials up some quarterback runs. The Spartans probably won't be able to dial up a ton of downfield shots with a freshman QB and will prefer to keep it on the ground, but Coffman flashed some serious arm talent during the team's spring game in April, too.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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