Chip Kelly praises Ethan Garbers, reveals additional details on choosing starter

The UCLA Bruins took care of business in their home city of Los Angeles, CA, in the LA Bowl. The Bruins won convincingly over the Boise State Broncos 35-22. However, if you saw the first half of the game, you might not have seen this outcome coming as the Broncos controlled the first half, taking a 16- 7 lead into halftime.

What changed for UCLA was an unexpected shift at quarterback after starter Collin Schlee went down and was replaced by Ethan Garbers.

After their dominating second-half victory, Bruins head coach Chip Kelly discussed Garbers’s impact and explained why he did not start the bowl game.

“I asked him; he didn’t feel great in warm-ups. He said he felt good to be a backup. And then, when Schlee went down on that long run, I asked him are you good to go? And he, ‘I’m good to go coach.’ He was a tremendous jump start for us. He’s a special kid, and I’m really proud of him,” said Kelly.

Schlee left the game early in the second half after a hit to the head on a 44-yard run to put UCLA in scoring position. Garbers ended the game and finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Ford.

Garbers would lead the Bruins on three straight touchdown drives and add one more late in the fourth for good measure. UCLA could’ve added to their point total on the game’s final drive but elected to show sportsmanship and kneel the game out one yard away from adding six more points.

LA Bowl host Rob Gronkowski praise Boise State fans, critical of UCLA’s

This year’s LA Bowl between UCLA and Boise State is hosted by none other than four-time Super Bowl-winning tight end with the New England Patriots Rob Gronkowski. Not only did Gronkowski host the game, but prior to kickoff, he also sang the national anthem. But the Super Bowl-winning tight end wasn’t done making headlines there.

Shortly after halftime, with Boise State leading UCLA 16-14, Gronkowski shared a few thoughts about the two combatants and the location for Saturday night’s game: SoFi stadium in downtown Los Angeles, CA. And although the stadium is just down the road from the Bruins’s home campus, according to Gronkowski, you would have thought the Broncos were the closer in proximity program.

“College football is awesome. So many people love college football. We got two great teams here: UCLA [and] Boise State. Let me tell you, even though UCLA is 10 minutes away, Boise State has more fans here, in LA, at SoFi Stadium. And they are a lot louder than UCLA, too. I just gotta give them credit,” said Gronkowski.