Ethan Garbers came on at quarterback and threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns, leading UCLA to 28 unanswered points en route to a 35–22 win over Boise State on Saturday, Dec. 16, at the L.A. Bowl in Los Angeles.
Garbers replaced injured starter Collin Schlee, who went down following a 44-yard run on UCLA’s first possession of the second half.
The Bruins (8–5) scored three plays later when Garbers found Kyle Ford on a 5-yard touchdown strike.
Schlee went 11-for-16 passing for 78 yards and threw a five-yard touchdown shovel pass to Hudson Habermehl in the first quarter before exiting.
UCLA went on third-quarter touchdown drives of 87, 72 and 70 yards with Garbers at quarterback, the latter two culminating in T.J. Harden carries.
Harden capped the first, a nine-play drive, with a goal-line run.
Harden rushed 20 times for 105 yards, taking on the majority of rushing duties with Carson Steele out for an unspecified reason. Schlee carried seven times for 127 yards before his injury.
The third-quarter onslaught flipped the game firmly in UCLA’s control after Boise State pulled ahead by two scores at halftime.
The Broncos (8–6) capitalized late in the second quarter with a touchdown on its fourth trip into the red zone.
George Holani’s goal-line scoring run came after field goals of 33, 23 and 33 yards by Jonah Dalmas.
Holani ran for another touchdown of 66 yards in the late fourth quarter, but not before Boise State quarterback C.J.
Tiller—making his first career start—was intercepted by UCLA’s Alex Johnson earlier in the period.
Johnson’s fifth pick of the season set up the Bruins at the Broncos’ 40-yard line where, on the first play from scrimmage, Garbers found Sturdivant for a 40-yard touchdown pass to complete UCLA’s 28-point deluge.
Sturdivant caught four passes for 142 yards for the Bruins.
Holani carried 17 times for 138 yards in the loss. Ashton Jeanty rushed 17 times for 85 yards. Tiller finished 12-of-21 passing for 117 yards.
