Former Michigan State football RB Jalen Berger commits to UCLA

With football season fast approaching, now is a scary time for those players in the transfer portal who have still not found a new home. As each day goes by it becomes more and more unlikely that they find a new team by the start of the season. And that’s not something I wish on anyone.

Currently there are still seven former Michigan State football players in the portal that are looking for a new team. But that number is moving down to six.

According to Adam Friedman of Rivals, former Michigan State running back Jalen Berger is transferring to new Big Ten foe UCLA.

Berger spent his first two seasons in college at Wisconsin before transferring to Michigan State ahead of the 2022 season. Berger then had a solid campaign in 2022 at MSU where he totaled 148 carries for 683 yards and six touchdowns.

However, this past season wasn’t as good for Berger as his opportunities on the field quickly dwindled. In 2023, he totaled only 25 carries for 93 yards and one touchdown.

After a lackluster 2023 season, he entered the transfer portal once again, which ended up being a good choice by him as Nate Carter is returning for Michigan State and is primed for another big season. But Jonathan Smith also went into the portal himself and snagged transfer running back Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams from UMass who will challenge Carter for snaps.

This means that there just really aren’t many carries remaining for Berger, so finding a new home was probably his best option.

Even though UCLA is a Big Ten opponent, I do still hope it works out for him there. It’s unfortunate that his time in East Lansing didn’t pan out as everyone hoped, but hopefully this split will work out in the long run for both parties.