Former Michigan State top rusher reportedly transferring to third Big Ten school

Jalen Berger is currently attending the third school of his college career and is apparently heading to the West Coast but staying in the Big Ten.

The former Michigan State running back, who previously played for Wisconsin, is transferring to UCLA, according to a report from On3 on Monday night. Berger, a fifth-year senior, entered the portal in April after spring practice ended with a crowded backfield. He has 257 carries for 1,165 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career with the Spartans and Badgers.

Berger, 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, was Michigan State’s best runner in 2022 but was limited by injuries last year when Nathan Carter, who transferred from UConn, took over the running back role. Carter seemed ready to remain the starter at the end of spring practice, and that helped lead to the transfer of running backs Berger, Jaren Mangham (Minnesota) and Davion Primm (Morehead State).

Berger, a former four-star prospect from New Jersey who was recruited by UCLA in high school, led Wisconsin in rushing as a freshman in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season before being released from the team the following year for undisclosed reasons. He transferred to Michigan State and in 2022, he rushed for 148 yards and six touchdowns in his first season with the Spartans.

An unspecified injury limited Berger to just 25 carries for 93 yards and one touchdown in five games last year as Carter led a decimated backfield. Berger stayed with the Spartans after Jonathan Smith was named the new coach in November before entering the portal for a second time following spring practice.

The move to the Bruins means Berger will remain in the Big Ten after the conference added former Pac-12 schools UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington, bringing the total to 18 teams. Michigan State and UCLA will not play each other this season.

Due to the exodus from the backfield after the spring, Carter is the only scholarship running back returning to the Spartans. They signed two three-star prospects in the 2024 recruiting class in Brandon Tullis and Makhi Frazier and signed UMass graduate transfer Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams in the spring.