The Spartans had been going through the trenches when it came to their offense as after their first two games against the Toledo Rockets and the Eastern Michigan Eagles, respectively, they were unable to really get anything good going against their opponents. Notre Dame held them to 10 points, Nebraska held them to 13, and Wisconsin held them to three.

However, in their most recent pairing of games against defenses that have not been at the level they were used to facing, the Spartans were able to get their offense to look like it had life again and quarterback Alessio Milivojevic was starting to be able to hit some throws again.

Sure, the team would still need to be patient as they did lose both to Illinois and Northwestern, they put up an average of 29 points a game, and there was something to look forward to. Now, though, they will be facing a big test against the UCLA Bruins to see if their recent games have been legitimate or not.

The Test MSU Will Face Against UCLA

For the most part, the Bruins have found ways to make games long and gritty, as their rush-first approach gives them plenty of ways to stall the clock and give little opportunity for their opponents to get anything going offensively.

They held the Wisconsin Badgers, who put up 31 against the Spartans, to only one touchdown for the whole game, winning 17-7. They only allowed three against the Maryland Terrapins, 15 against the Oregon Ducks, and 10 against San Diego State.

One of only two teams to have broken through has been the California Golden Bears, who still lost but put up 24 points, but that came with the caveat of being UCLA's first game of the season as a new unit.

The only game that can be truly looked at as an outlier is the Purdue Boilermakers, who put up 38 points seemingly out of nowhere, still losing the game by letting over 50 points go, but they have been the only team to eclipse the 25+ point mark.

Against all teams, the Bruins have almost always been a stifling team on defense, and there will be specific players to watch out for, but in general, it will be a massive test for the Spartans to see if they are trending in the right direction offensively.

They passed against Northwestern, but without the extra motivation of the many revenge games that loomed, will they be able to continue showing out?