Report: Ethan Garbers to start at QB for UCLA vs. USC

UCLA will reportedly start Ethan Garbers at quarterback against USC, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Neither Garbers nor five-star freshman Dante Moore played in UCLA’s loss to Arizona State last week. Chip Kelly elected to start Collin Schlee.

But now, an experienced quarterback is back under center for a pivotal moment in UCLA’s season.

Kelly is currently on the hot seat, according to reports. He currently has a 33-33 record since coming in ahead of the 2018 season.

Without a win over USC, Kelly could be fired this weekend. However, should Kelly lead the Bruins to a win, he could keep his job through the end of the regular season, but his future is still up in the air.

There were moments of success in 2023 under Kelly, including getting to the No. 18 ranking in the AP Poll back in October. As it stands, Kelly is 79-40 as a head coach with Oregon and UCLA.

In an upset loss to Arizona State November 11, he had to answer why Moore or Garbers didn’t play.

“They were available in emergency situations,” Kelly said. “They’re getting better. They didn’t take, really, many snaps at all this week. They are both working through things. And the decision was made by our medical staff that the best decision was to not play those guys.”

The loss was a bit of a gut punch ahead of rivalry games with USC and Cal.

“I told them that it was on us, as coaches,” Kelly said. “We didn’t do a good enough job of preparing these guys for this football game. We will come back tomorrow. We have a game against the team across town and that will get our full attention, and we will meet tomorrow as a team.”

Moore and Garbers have both had their ups and downs this season, which is evident in UCLA’s 6-4 record this season. But without either one of them playing, the Bruins managed just seven points and little semblance of the explosive offense.

In eight games this season, Moore has 1,344 yards, 10 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 52% completion percentage. As far as Garbers is concerned, he has 786 yards, six touchdowns, three interceptions and a 68.1% completion percentage.