‘It felt great.’ Ethan Garbers’ patience was rewarded as he led UCLA past Stanford
PALO ALTO — For three years now, Ethan Garbers has spent most of his time on the sideline waiting for his moment.
Beginning his UCLA career as the backup to a veteran, he played only in blowouts or as an injury replacement for two seasons. Just when it looked as if his patience might finally be rewarded, Garbers anointed the starter going into this season, he was overtaken by a true freshman after a shaky showing in the opener.
Back into the shadows he went. More waiting. More doubts about whether any of this would lead to anything worthwhile.
“There were a lot of times where I just kind of wanted to … kind of quit a little bit,” Garbers acknowledged, “But hey, I got to keep my head straight, I got to keep moving ‘cause you never know what could happen.”
What happened Saturday night made the redshirt junior break out in a wide smile and unleash a swinging fist pump.
He got the start against Stanford. He starred. He just might have won the job back.
UCLA dominates on offense and defense in win over Stanford
🏈 UCLA 42, Stanford 7 — FINAL
Chip Kelly gave Ethan Garbers the start at quarterback and he put on a show, passing for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns in a blowout win over Stanford.
Garbers completed 20 of 28 passes for 240 yards. Carson Steele powered the Bruins’ offense in the first half and finished with 76 yards and three touchdowns in 20 carries.
After last week’s struggles against Oregon State, the UCLA defense made a dominant return, shutting out the Cardinal until reserves entered the game in the third quarter.
Freshman quarterback Dante Moore played briefly in the fourth quarter, completing four of five passes for 26 yards. Chase Griffin and Justyn Martin also saw time at quarterback.
J.Michael Sturdivant made five catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. TJ Harden rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown in 12 carries and tight end Moliki Matavao scored a 20-yard touchdown on his lone reception.
UCLA plays host to Colorado at the Rose Bowl next on Oct. 28.
TJ Harden joins the UCLA touchdown party vs. Stanford
🏈 UCLA 42, Stanford 7 — 14:35 left in the fourth quarter
TJ Harden scored on a 22-yard run for the Bruins’ sixth touchdown of the game following a five-play, 60-yard drive.
A 37-yard pass from Ethan Garbers to Kyle Ford came two plays before Harden’s trek to the end zone.
It has been a night of total domination for UCLA.
Stanford finally gets on the scoreboard with touchdown
🏈 UCLA 35, Stanford 7 — 3:18 left in the third quarter
Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Tiger Bachmeier to get the Cardinal on the scoreboard.
The touchdown came at the end of an efficient, six-play, 75-yard drive against a reserve-heavy UCLA defense.
Can the Stanford defense stop Ethan Garbers and give its offense another chance to try to get back into the game?
UCLA takes 34-0 lead on Moliki Matavao touchdown
🏈 UCLA 35, Stanford 0 — 4:56 left in the third quarter
The UCLA rout continues.
UCLA tight end Moliki Matavao caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Garbers to stay in complete control.
The touchdown came off a speedy three-play drive after the UCLA defense held Stanford to another three-and-out on on offense. Stanford has struggled to find any rhythm on offense, and 10 penalties for 113 yards haven’t help the Cardinal cause.
UCLA has 362 total yards and 25 first downs in contrast with Stanford’s 188 yards and 10 first downs.
UCLA extends lead on J.Michael Sturdivant touchdown
🏈 UCLA 28, Stanford 0 — 6:47 left in the third quarter
The Bruins’ fourth touchdown of the night came on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Garbers to J.Michael Sturdivant.
The touchdown capped an eight-play, 40-yard drive for UCLA an 18-yard reception by Logan Loya. Sturdivant leads UCLA receivers with five receptions for 54 yards.
UCLA in complete control, leading 21-0 at halftime
🏈 UCLA 21, Stanford 0 — HALFTIME
UCLA has been in control from the start in this one despite some misfires on offense throughout the first half. The UCLA defense has played its role in what has been a very one-sided game, holding Stanford to just 87 total yards in the first half.
The Bruins have 298 total yards and quarterback Ethan Garbers has accounted for most of that. He completed 14 of 17 passes for 144 yards and he has 57 yards in seven carries.
Running back Carson Steele has scored each of the Bruins’ three touchdowns and has 70 yards in 17 carries. Tight end Hudson Habermehl has 54 receiving yards in three receptions.
Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels has completed 11 of 16 passes for 81 yards.
UCLA extends its lead on Carson Steele’s third TD tonight
🏈 UCLA 21, Stanford 0 — 5:40 left in the second quarter
Carson Steele continues to be unstoppable in the red zone for UCLA.
The running back scored his third touchdown tonight on a a five-yard blast and pound up the middle to extend the Bruins’ lead. The touchdown came at the end of a 15-play, 97-yard drive almost entirely powered on runs by Steele, Ethan Garbers and TJ Harden.
Steele has 61 yards in 14 carries.
Stanford blocked a UCLA field-goal attempt late in the first quarter.
Meet Crocky-J, the pet alligator that makes UCLA’s Carson Steele a rare breed
Meet Crocky-J, UCLA running back Carson Steele’s pet alligator.
Carson Steele already has two touchdown tonight for the Bruins. His pet alligator must be proud...
The slippery beast didn’t come with an instruction manual, only trial and terror. Its kid owner quickly developed a routine for getting a hold of the thing.
Carson Steele would start by grabbing the tail and tucking it under his arm. Next, he’d put a hand on the belly to get a firm grip and prevent it from snapping one way or the other.
The worst thing that could happen is to have any piece of flesh you wanted to preserve on either side of its head. That’s just inviting it to spin around and chomp you in an awful instant.
UCLA takes a 14-0 lead on another Carson Steele touchdown
🏈 UCLA 14, Stanford 0 — 7:37 left in the first quarter
Carson Steele scored his second touchdown tonight on a seven-yard run to cap a speedy, three-play drive and extend UCLA’s lead.
After Stanford went three-and-out on its first possession, UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers connected over the middle to tight end Hudson Habermehl on a 45-yard pass to set up the touchdown.
Carson Steele touchdown pushes UCLA into early lead
🏈 UCLA 7, Stanford 0 — 10:27 left in the first quarter
UCLA running back Carson Steele scored on a three-yard run as the Bruins scored on their opening possession with Ethan Garbers under center.
Garbers fueled the 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 16-yard pass to J.Michael Sturdivant and a 18-yard run.
Ethan Garbers starts at quarterback for UCLA vs. Stanford
In a somewhat expected move, Ethan Garbers started under center for the Bruins in the wake of Dante Moore’s struggles last week against Oregon State.
UCLA coach Chip Kelly wouldn’t reveal before the game who he planned to start, but Garbers was getting snaps with the first-team offense in the pregame warmup.
On the first play from scrimmage, Garbers connected on a 16-yard pass to wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant.
Moore threw three interceptions, including a pick-six, in the Bruins’ loss to Oregon State on Oct. 14. Garbers hasn’t played since Sept. 16 when he completed one pass in a blowout win over North Carolina Central.
‘Treat people nice’: Chip Kelly says NIL cash shouldn’t open college players to criticism
The young quarterback isn’t ready.
What was the offensive tackle doing, committing a false start coming out of a timeout?
How does an entire defense fail to cover a tight end?
Social media and message boards were not fun places to be over the weekend if you were a UCLA football player, family member or friend. The Bruins lost to Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday, and it was as if some fans lost their minds.
It’s the same sort of criticism that pops up whenever a team falters and fans turn testy. Might those fans feel more justified in their vitriol in 2023 given that some of these college players now earn more income than they do through name, image and likeness deals?
Five takeaways from UCLA’s deflating loss to Oregon State
The big tease rolls on.
In Year 6, with his best defense and deepest team, UCLA coach Chip Kelly once again briefly raised expectations before going splat in his old home state.
His overreliance on a talented but understandably raw freshman quarterback probably cost the Bruins a chance at beating Utah and Oregon State.
Now, after UCLA’s 36-24 loss to the Beavers on Saturday night at Reser Stadium, the Bruins have considerable work to do just to secure a spot in something along the lines of the Las Vegas Bowl.
Top five games in UCLA versus Stanford history: Bruins saw red often
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: Bruins versus the Cardinal.
Nov. 30, 2012: No. 8 Stanford 27, No. 17 UCLA 24
These teams had met the previous week, with UCLA losing 35-17. The Bruins avoided facing Chip Kelly’s Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 championship game and instead traveled to Palo Alto to face Stanford on its home field.
The rematch was considerably closer but just as frustrating. The Bruins held a 24-17 lead entering the fourth quarter before the Cardinal rolled off 10 straight points, including a field goal with 6:49 left, to take the lead.
Does Chip Kelly make a change at quarterback? Five things to watch against Stanford
Chip Kelly is known for sticking with young players through mistakes.
When Kelly coached at Oregon, freshman running back De’Anthony Thomas fumbled on back-to-back plays for the Ducks in 2011. They were pivotal mistakes in a loss to Louisiana State, but Kelly did not bench his emerging star from Crenshaw High.
“As I learned from Paul Westhead a long time ago,” Kelly said at the time, referencing the former Lakers and Loyola Marymount basketball coach, “you may stop the bleeding, but you may kill the patient and that’s not going to happen here.”
Then again, Kelly sounded every bit as exasperated as fans this week when he discussed UCLA freshman quarterback Dante Moore’s third consecutive game with a pick-six.