Ethan Garbers proves he has the ‘it’ factor, delivering UCLA to LA Bowl win
He started the year as UCLA’s top quarterback. Ethan Garbers finished it the same way.
Despite injuries and inconsistent play on offense throughout the season, the redshirt junior led the Bruins to their first bowl win since 2015 with a triumphant second half Saturday, entering in relief of injured Collin Schlee to help UCLA to a 35-22 victory over Boise State in the LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium.
Garbers, who suffered an arm injury during UCLA’s regular-season finale against California, finished with 152 yards and two touchdowns on nine-for-12 passing with 38 rushing yards and earned offensive most valuable player honors.
UCLA and USC combined to place three players on the All-Pac-12 first team. Caleb Williams, last year’s Heisman winner, earned honorable mention.
In front of bowl game host Rob Gronkowski, UCLA coach Chip Kelly appropriately crowned his quarterback on stage during the trophy presentation by placing a thick diamond chain with a gaudy LA Bowl pendant over Garbers’ head. After a season of quarterback controversies, Garbers silenced any final doubters.
“Ethan’s won the team over a long time ago,” Kelly said. “He’s been our starting quarterback, the only issue we’ve had is Ethan’s got banged up.”
Although Garbers participated in practice this week and warmups before the game, he “wasn’t feeling 100% myself,” he said. He told coaches to start Schlee instead, but he could be available as the backup. Then Schlee appeared to slam his head on the turf after a 44-yard run on UCLA’s first drive of the third quarter. Garbers immediately began warming up on the sideline.
“When I looked out there and the team needed me, that’s my biggest priority,” said Garbers, who announced after the game he planned to return next season. “I’ll sacrifice my body for the team, for these guys that [have] put blood, sweat and tears into it. And at the end of the day, it was all for them.”
UCLA (8-5) won a bowl game for the first time during Kelly’s six-year tenure and secured its third consecutive eight-win season, only the second such streak of success at UCLA since Terry Donahue in 1988.
Schlee, a transfer from Kent State who had completed fewer than half of his passes this season, flashed his dual-threat ability with 127 rushing yards in seven carries, but UCLA’s offense crawled with him at the helm.
The Bruins had more penalties (eight) in the first half than points, taking a 16-7 deficit into the locker room.
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1. UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers passes during the second half. 2. Boise State running back George Holani breaks away from UCLA’s JonJon Vaughns and Carl Jones Jr. in the first half. 3. UCLA coach Chip Kelly reacts to play during the first half. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Starting when Garbers entered the game facing first and goal from the Boise State nine-yard line, the Bruins scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives. Garbers completed his first eight passes as UCLA reeled off 28 unanswered points to stun the Mountain West Conference champion.
UCLA’s defense, which forced three field goals in as many red zone drives during the first half, held Boise State’s rushing attack led by Mountain West offensive player of the year Ashton Jeanty, to 86 yards in the second half.
Led by true freshman quarterback CJ Tiller, who was playing in his first significant game time after transfers and injuries ravaged the Boise State quarterback position, the Broncos (8-6) rushed for 215 yards, the most given up by UCLA this season. The Bruins were without their top defensive lineman Laiatu Latu, who opted out while finishing school and preparing for the NFL draft.
“The first half, we weren’t really playing to the standard that we set out for ourselves,” said senior linebacker Darius Muasau, who earned defensive MVP honors with 11 tackles and 2 1/2 tackles for loss in his final college game. “Going into the locker room, this is a player-led team. Coach says that all the time. So we had our captains step up, give a little speech and that’s all we needed to kind of kick our butts and get right.”
A 41-yard catch from J.Michael Sturdivant in the third quarter set up a 14-yard touchdown run from T.J. Harden on the next play, capping a lightning-strike 57-second scoring drive that tilted all momentum toward UCLA.
As Harden ran into the end zone, Garbers looked toward the crowd of 32,780 and stretched his arms wide. At least half of the record-setting crowd for the three-year-old LA Bowl was thoroughly entertained by the hometown kid.
The Newport Beach native deserved to soak in the moment after a topsy-turvy season. From the opener against Coastal Carolina to Saturday’s LA Bowl, Garbers had won a heated preseason quarterback competition, was benched for freshman Dante Moore and was elevated again to the starting spot only to get injured.
But Garbers never wavered.
“He has it, the ‘it’ factor,” Kelly said this week. “He’s been through a lot. … I think everybody feels kind of calm when Garbs is in there.”
Despite Garbers’ cool demeanor, he has been rarely thought of as the long-term solution for Kelly in the post-Dorian Thompson-Robinson era. Last year, UCLA quickly grabbed Schlee out of the transfer portal. When the coaching staff recruited Moore, a five-star prospect from Detroit, many anointed him as the future.
With the way the Bruins struggled in the passing game for much of the season, many fans were ready to dive into the portal again for a quarterback, especially after Moore announced his intention to transfer.
Garbers had no problem shutting down the speculation with his play Saturday.
“I would just say my entire football career has been resilient and that’s life,” said Garbers, who transferred to UCLA in 2021 after beginning his career at Washington. “Coach Kelly says all the time, life is hard and if you can find a way to get through these battles and win those battles, it’s going to help you out in the long run.”
He’ll stick around for the long run as the signal-caller who could lead the Bruins into the Big Ten. When he announced after the game he planned to return to UCLA next season, Kelly nodded.
“Merry Christmas!” Kelly said, patting the quarterback on the back.
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