UCLA wins 1st Big Ten game on Ethan Garbers’ big day

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The most complete game of Ethan Garbers’ UCLA career came 2,750 miles from home.

The Bruins’ senior quarterback sliced up the Rutgers defense and set a number of career marks Saturday. But most importantly to Garbers, his coach and his teammates, UCLA finally found the win column again – and the long trip home will be much easier to tolerate.

Garbers accounted for five touchdowns and powered the Bruins to their first Big Ten victory as they took down Rutgers 35-32 at SHI Stadium.

“It felt great, I’m not gonna lie, but nothing is better than ultimately getting that W, that’s the best feeling in the world,” Garbers said. “All the stats, all that stuff doesn’t really matter. It’s just seeing my guys smile and knowing that on this five-hour flight, we’re gonna have a good time.”

The Bruins (2-5, 1-4) ended a five-game losing streak and handed Rutgers its third consecutive defeat. UCLA hadn’t won since Aug. 31 at Hawai’i, with difficult road losses to LSU and Penn State in the interim.

Garbers set career marks for completions (32 on 38 attempts), yards (383) and touchdown passes (four). He was methodical in the quick passing game, throwing three of his touchdowns to running backs T.J. Harden, Keegan Jones and Jalen Berger. And after entering the game with nine picks, he was interception-free for the first time this season.

Garbers also had a 49-yard touchdown scramble and a 67-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Jones – marking the longest run and the longest pass of his collegiate career.

“I think you could kind of see that this offense can be explosive, but we just weren’t able to do it repetitively in games,” UCLA coach DeShaun Foster said. “You know, we might do it in one quarter and slow down in the second and come back in the third and get nothing in the fourth, so we were able to just put together a few drives and back-to-back points and the defense played off the offense, the offense played off the defense.”

UCLA had not eclipsed 17 points in a game all season, but an efficient one-minute drill gave the Bruins a 21-10 lead by halftime.

Kyle Monangai ran for 103 yards and scored all three of his touchdowns in the second half for Rutgers (4-3, 1-3). But the Bruins stopped two two-point conversion attempts, and Bryan Addison snapped up his second interception of the year with 5:25 left to hamper Rutgers’ rally.

“Based on my training and (what) we went over in practice, they love throwing corner routes to No. 0 (Dymere Miller),” Addison said. “So I kind of just was going through the plays in my head and had got lucky, pretty much, and broke on the ball. Had a good play for the team.”

Rutgers got the ball back and Monangai’s third touchdown cut the deficit to three points with 1:23 to play, but Grant Gray recovered the ensuing onside kick for UCLA.

The teams traded 75-yard touchdown drives to open the game. Garbers found Logan Loya for a 5-yard score in the right corner of the end zone, Loya’s team-leading third touchdown of the year. Rutgers tied it on quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis’ 1-yard plunge.

Garbers’ big run came late in the second quarter. He headed left and sidestepped a defensive back closing in on him. From there, Garbers had the blockers to tiptoe down the sideline and put the Bruins back in front.

“I’ve always said this before. They can refer to me as ‘sneaky athletic,’ but, uh, when I get out of the pocket, you know, I’m just looking to get four or five yards. And in that case, I mean, I made one man miss, and then those guys, all the receivers set up fantastic blocks. You know, it couldn’t be more perfect. I didn’t get touched till I got in the end zone.”

After Rutgers settled for a field goal with 1:08 left in the half, the Bruins sailed down the field with four straight completions. Garbers then connected with Harden for a 22-yard score, completing a 75-yard drive in 46 seconds.

The Scarlet Knights opened the second half with a quick touchdown drive. Monangai scored on a 6-yard run, but UCLA swallowed up Kaliakmanis on a two-point try.

Two plays after a Rutgers field goal cut it to 21-19, Jones ran a wheel route and was left all alone on the right sideline. Garbers found him and he sprinted away for a 67-yard score.

“Most definitely, I was surprised,” Jones said of the lack of coverage. “I was like, ‘Eth, Eth, Eth!’ As soon as he looked at me I was like, ‘Yup, here we go.’ Got it, I was like, ‘Now I gotta take this thing to the crib.’”

The play also set Garbers’ career high in passing yardage for the second straight week, following his 293-yard showing against Minnesota.

“He was trending last week, too,” Foster said. “You know, he just had three picks that were very unfortunate, but I think he threw for the most yards against that defense. … He played a great game (Saturday) and just proud of the guy. You know, the team really rallies behind him and he’s a true team player and a real captain and a leader on this offense.”

Jones finished with five catches for 114 yards. Tight end Moliki Matavao added six grabs for 104 yards.