The UCLA Bruins faced one of the strangest situations a program will have to endure this past offseason, as its head coach, Chip Kelly, skipped town for a “lesser” job as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Not only that, but the projected starter at quarterback, Dante Moore, left the Bruins knowing he would be Dillon Gabriel’s backup for a year at Oregon.
On paper, however, the Bruins seemingly made two good hires to overcome those deficiencies with first-time head coach and former UCLA running back DeShaun Foster and NFL veteran offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to run the offense.
But football is played on the field, not on paper, and the results haven’t been there for the Bruins in their first three games of the season. But one has to think that the offense will eventually get there.
Quarterback Ethan Garbers, a senior and former California Bear, is a veteran and moving into the Big Ten shouldn’t phase him. It hasn’t been pretty, however. Garbers is completing nearly 58 percent of his passes, but he has just three touchdowns to his name and four interceptions.
“I think he’s very athletic. He’s a guy that, when he does scramble, he scrambles and looks to throw,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said of Garbers. “I think that’s something. He’s had some success in each of his games. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable, but he throws a good ball and he’s able to really attack the soft zone really well and is getting more and more comfortable in their system.”
In their Big Ten opener against Indiana, a game the Hoosiers easily won 42-13, Garbers was just 14-of-23 passing for 137 yards and one interception. It wasn’t a good performance and Indiana is by far not the best team the Bruins will face in conference play this season.
The running game hasn’t gotten on track either.
Their leading rusher, TJ Harden, leads the team on the ground with just 24 yards a game. The aerial attack is a little better, but not by much. Garbers averages 230 yards a game and his favorite receiver, at least in the early going, seems to be Harden out of the backfield. He leads the team with 12 catches.
When Garbers is able to throw the ball down the field, his main target is Rico Flores, Jr., who is averaging almost 18 yards per reception. Former Duck Moliki Matavao has seven catches for 85 yards.
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