UCLA’s offense struggles and Ethan Garbers is injured in loss to Arizona

🏈 Arizona 27, UCLA 10 — FINAL

With Ethan Garbers and Dante Moore both injured, Collin Schlee took over at quarterback late in the fourth quarter but couldn’t move the offense as No. 19 UCLA lost to Arizona for the second straight season.

Garbers completed 13 of 21 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown before leaving early in the fourth quarter because of an apparent right leg/foot injury. Carson Steele rushed for 38 yards in eight carries.

Noah Fifita completed 25 of 32 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception for Arizona.

UCLA could never find its rhythm on offense. It was limited to 271 total yards. On defense, UCLA struggled, giving up 130 rushing yards after allowing just 49 in the two previous games.

Arizona students stormed the field after their homecoming win over the Bruins.

🏈 Arizona 27, UCLA 10 — 4:40 left in the fourth quarter

Tyler Loop kicked a 22-yard field goal to extend the Wildcats’ commanding lead late in the fourth quarter.

Rayshon Luke’s 66-yard reception set up the field goal.

🏈 Arizona 24, UCLA 10 — 7:52 left in the fourth quarter

Coming off Kain Medrano’s blocked punt, the Bruins failed to capitalize on the prime field position, turning the ball over on downs.

A pair of false start penalties led to a fourth-and-19 situation for the Bruins. Dante Moore narrowly escaped a sack before connecting on a five-yard pass to TJ Harden that was well short of a first down.

Making matters much worse, Noah Fifita completed a 66-yard pass to Rayshon Luke on the first play of the ensuing Arizona possession to put the ball of the UCLA 23.

In addition, Dante Moore made his way to the locker room after appearing to sustain an injury of some kind of the Bruins’ possession.

🏈 Arizona 24, UCLA 10 — 10:34 left in the fourth quarter

Kain Medrano made a huge special teams play for the Bruins, blocking an Arizona punt and giving the Bruins the ball at the Wildcats’ 31.

Dante Moore reentered at quarterback for UCLA.

🏈 Arizona 24, UCLA 10 — 14:22 left in the fourth quarter

UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers had to be helped off the field after suffering an apparent right leg/foot injury while being sacked by defensive lineman Russell Davis on the Bruins’ first snap of the fourth quarter.

Freshman Dante Moore took over at quarterback, but the Bruins went three-and-out.

🏈 Arizona 24, UCLA 10 — 14:37 left in the fourth quarter

Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan managed to haul in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Noah Fifita despite tight coverage from UCLA cornerback John Humphrey to give the Wildcats a commanding lead.

The touchdown was originally ruled an incomplete pass before a video review determined McMillan got a foot down and maintained control of the ball before going out of bounds.

Tanner McLachlan made catches of 13 and 30 yards to fuel the six-play, 75-yard drive. A facemask penalty on UCLA’s Gabriel Murphy for 15 yards moved the Wildcats into the red zone and set up the touchdown.

Can the Bruins quickly respond?

🏈 Arizona 17, UCLA 10 — 2:28 left in the third quarter

Blake Glessner kicked a 29-yard field goal as the Bruins cut into Arizona’s lead after narrowly avoiding disaster at the end of a 14-play, 64-yard drive.

Ethan Garbers tried to throw away the ball as he was being sacked on third down, only for the ball to be intercepted by Arizona cornerback Ephesians Prysock. But a video review determined Garbers’ knee was down before he let go of the ball, making it an Arizona sack and giving Glessner a chance to kick his first field goal after missing two attempts earlier in the game.

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita looks to pass in the first half.

(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

🏈 Arizona 17, UCLA 7 — 8:15 left in the third quarter

Tyler Loop kicked a 37-yard field goal to extend Arizona’s lead after UCLA’s defense found a way to slow down a methodical Wildcats drive that converted on a pair of third downs.

Laiatu Latu sacked Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita and defensive lineman Jay Toia tackled running back Jonah Coleman to keep the Wildcats out of the red zone at the end of a 14-play, 55-yard drive.

Arizona has found some success against the vaunted UCLA defense, converting on nine of 11 third downs. Arizona, however, might be without running back Michael Wiley the rest of the way after he sustained an apparent leg injury after being tackled by Toia on the drive.

A 17-yard drive by Coleman helped pull the Wildcats into field-goal range.

UCLA running back Carson Steele carries the ball against Arizona in the first half.

(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

🏈 Arizona 14, UCLA 7 — HALFTIME

Ethan Garbers connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Carsen Ryan in a lightning-fast drive that put UCLA on the scoreboard just before half. The touchdown call was confirmed on video review.

The pass capped an impressive, eight-play, 75-yard drive that took only 1 minute and 24 seconds. Garbers completed passes of five, eight and 11 yards to T.J. Harden to start the drive before airing out a 30-yard pass to Logan Loya to set up the touchdown.

Garbers completed nine of 16 passes for 112 yards in the first half.

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita has completed 13 of 19 passes for 144 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.

🏈 Arizona 14, UCLA 0 — 1:27 left in the second quarter

Noah Fifita completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Cowing to extend the Wildcats’ lead in front of Rob Gronkowski and an ecstatic homecoming crowd in Arizona.

The seven-play, 61-yard drive made the UCLA defense look rather ordinary. Fifita completed a 34-yard pass to Tetairoa before UCLA defensive lineman Grayson Murphy drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for saying something to an official, putting the ball on the UCLA 11.

After the UCLA defense pushed back Arizona from the one-yard line by stuffing a pair of carries behind the line, Fifita found Cowing for his second touchdown pass tonight.

🏈 Arizona 7, UCLA 0 — 11:35 left in the second quarter

Another trip to the red zone and another missed opportunity for the Bruins.

Ephesians Prysock deflected a 41-yard field-goal attempt from Blake Glesser to keep UCLA off the scoreboard.

The Bruins looked like they were heading into the end zone on a drive led by both Ethan Garbers and Collin Schlee at quarterback. After reaching the Arizona eight-yard line, Schlee bobbled the ball while attempting to corral the snap and had to jump on it for a seven-yard loss.

Garbers then re-entered and was sacked by Arizona’s Taylor Upshaw for an eight-yard loss on third down. Prysock then got a hand on Glesser’s field-goal try to keep the Bruins off the scoreboard. It was Glesser’s second missed field-goal attempt tonight.

🏈 Arizona 7, UCLA 0 — 2:27 left in the first quarter

Montana Lemonious-Craig caught a nine-yard touchdown pass off a slant from quarterback Noah Fifita to put the Wildcats on the scoreboard.

The 11-play, 76-yard drive featured a trio of successful third-down conversions against the vaunted UCLA defense.

Fifita completed a 21-yard pass to Tetairoa McMilan to start the drive and found McMilan again on a third-down 15-yard pass just outside the red zone. A 15-yard completion to Kevin Green Jr. set up the touchdown.

🏈 UCLA 0, Arizona 0 — 7:37 left in the first quarter

UCLA failed to full capitalize on an Arizona turnover, with new kicker Blake Glessner missing a 42-yard field-goal attempt as the Bruins’ kicking woes continue to haunt them.

UCLA defensive back Alex Johnson picked off Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita and returned the ball 37 yards to the Arizona 39 to give the Bruins excellent field position for their second possession (their first possession ended in a three-and-out). It was Johnson’s fourth interception of the season.

After driving to the Arizona 15, the Ethan Garbers-led offense stalled out and was pushed back after a holding penalty.

With USC and UCLA playing their final season in the Pac-12, The Times is revisiting the top five games in the history of each series. This week: UCLA-Arizona.

Nov. 5, 2005: Arizona 52, No. 7 UCLA 14

Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama, shown during a game against Washington in 2007, guided the Wildcats to an upset of the Bruins in 2005 in only his second career start.

(Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)

UCLA had its doubters. Oh, did it ever. And they were rightfully skeptical. These Bruins were half-baked — great offense, dreadful defense. Their deficiencies forced them to keep rallying, four double-digit comeback wins fueling the team’s 8-0 start. By kickoff of this disaster in the desert, UCLA was the lowest-rated team among the five remaining unbeatens in the Bowl Championship Series poll.

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UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers signals a first down after scrambling for yards during a win over Colorado on Oct. 28.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Oh, brother. Another quarterback Ethan Garbers would have to contend with at the Rose Bowl.

This one happened to be his biggest supporter, not that having the same last name would keep Chase Garbers from sharing any critiques.

“He was just kind of saying when I run that I need to get down a little bit more,” Ethan said of the brotherly advice after the younger sibling guided UCLA to a convincing victory over Colorado last weekend.

So, in other words, slide?

“Yeah,” Ethan said two days after running a season-high nine times and absorbing several vicious hits. “It was funny, though. He said, ‘Are you trying to break my rushing records?’ and I was like, ‘Man, that’s crazy.’ ”

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UCLA coach Chip Kelly walks on the field during a win over Colorado on Oct. 28.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

After a stunning upset over UCLA last season at the Rose Bowl, the Jedd Fisch Revenge Tour rolls back into Tucson on Saturday.

Maybe it was just a coincidence that the Arizona coach wore a shirt reading “It’s Personal” when he met with reporters Thursday. It certainly fed the narrative that there’s going to be a little extra motivation when Fisch tries to win another meeting of the game’s top offensive minds.

For those who don’t recall the full extent of the awkwardness, Fisch was the Bruins’ interim coach when Chip Kelly was hired in late 2017 to replace Jim Mora. Fisch said shortly thereafter that he had discussions with Kelly about remaining on the coaching staff but suggested there was no role for him with Kelly calling his own plays.

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