By now, we’ve firmly established that the UCLA Bruins 1-0 “victorious” start feels like taking a picture outside the Paris Hotel’s Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas…a nice experience, but not exactly the real thing.
While the Bruins have a plethora of items to correct over their bye week before what’s hopefully a raucous home opener against Indiana, one thing has fallen under the radar…this is a tougher, more resilient, scrappier Ethan Garbers than the 2023 version.
Let’s rewind the clock just a year ago as Garbers was somewhat surprisingly named the starter in the season opener versus Coastal Carolina. After spearheading a methodical opening touchdown drive, the redshirt senior from Newport Beach threw an inexplicable interception inside the Chanticleers’ 10-yard line…and neither he nor the Bruins were the same until the Victory Bell.
After that singular throw, Garbers’ confidence, poise, and effectiveness all seemed to nose dive, as he was ushered back into the game disjointedly at the start of the second half only to throw a second bizarre pick.
While Garbers finished that night with a pedestrian 10/17 for 172 yards and one touchdown against those two turnovers, given his 3/10 finish, the keys to the Bruin kingdom had been ransomed to the seemingly true freshman superstar Dante Moore.
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What ensued was a roller coaster 6-5 seasonal stretch of musical chaired signal callers, peculiar NIL clouded judgments, and locker room divisions, until ordered restored for the crosstown rivalry in the Coliseum.
While bragging rights were certainly achieved, a meaningful Bruin season was lost to the hourglass of time and circumstance.
New UCLA Bruins Year, New Ethan Garbers
Now fast-forward to Saturday in the Aloha state, where Garbers once again perplexingly threw an interception inside the opponent’s 10-yard line in the first half. He remained in a daze through the Bruins’ final first-half play with a shockingly poor decision and panicked heave from his own end zone right into the hands of a point-blank Rainbow Warrior defender. He finished the half 6/19 for 69 yards and two interceptions.
With an eerie sense of history repeating itself, Garbers demonstrated the grit of a true leader and fought off his own struggles to go 13/19 for 203 yards, one touchdown, and an interception-free second half.
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He threw a gorgeous deep ball to Rico Flores Jr. for a 39-yard scoring strike, demonstrated vastly underrated agility by finding Flores again on a flip right before tip-toeing over the line of scrimmage, and fired numerous completed fastballs to J. Michael Sturdivant and Moliki Matavao in critical situations.
Perhaps it was a calm and assuredness of not having to look over his shoulder and see the likes of Moore in 2024, perhaps it was being one year wiser, or perhaps it was an unshakeable confidence in offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy eventually playing the right notes.
But lost in the myriads of elements the UCLA Bruins have to improve upon this fortnight, one thing is for certain…Ethan Garbers is the perfect quarterback for these gutty Bruins.