Ethan Garbers rallies UCLA to 20-13 victory over Fresno State in season finale
Despite all the adversity he faced throughout this season and his career, Ethan Garbers was able to have a memorable finale for UCLA.
The senior passed for 289 yards, including a touchdown on his final attempt, as the Bruins rallied for a 20-13 victory over Fresno State at the Rose Bowl.
Garbers, who completed 26 of 40 passes, put it out of reach with 1:38 remaining with a 2-yard touchdown pass to J. Michael Sturdivant. The 15-play, 78-yard drive that took 6:14 off the clock gave the Bruins a 20-10 advantage.
"We wanted to close it out. Everyone came out in the second half and dominated," said Garbers, who completed 26 of 40 passes. "Getting a win in your last game in the Rose Bowl is special. I have a lot of great memories here."
T.J. Harden scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter for the Bruins (5-7), who won four of their final six games after a 1-5 start to the season.
"This game went very similar to how our season went. We had a few ups and downs, but my guys are very resilient, continued to play hard and didn't let things affect them," said DeShaun Foster, who wrapped up his first season as coach. "We continued to fight and were able to come out of halftime and score some points and get it going."
Fresno State (6-6) had a 10-6 lead at halftime, but went three-and-out on its first drive of the second half. UCLA took over on its own 40 after a punt and went 56 yards in four plays, capped by Harden's 5-yard run up the middle for his second touchdown of the season.
The big play of the series came when tight end Moliki Matavao had a 35-yard reception to the Bulldogs' 5. Matavao finished with career highs in receptions (eight) and yards (120).
Garbers' senior season epitomized UCLA's. He had nine interceptions and only four touchdowns in his first five games before turning it around with 12 TDs and only two picks in his final six.
"I'm fired up for him. We wanted to stress how bad it was for us to make sure we sent our seniors off the correct way," Foster said.
Fresno State's Mikey Keene — who came into the game leading the Mountain West in passing yards (2,668) — completed 30 of 43 for 219 yards.
The Bulldogs had a four-game winning streak in the series — including three straight at the Rose Bowl — but lost to the Bruins for the first time since 2000.
"I felt good about how we were playing and in the second half these lulls that we keep having it slowed the whole pace of the game down and then they took advantage of situations," interim coach Tim Skipper said. "We made long fields on offense. Things can't happen like that when you play a team like that."
UCLA opened the scoring on a pair of field goals by Mateen Bhaghani before Raylen Sharpe caught a 7-yard pass from Keene midway through the second quarter to put the Bulldogs up 7-6.
Dylan Lynch had a pair of field goals for Fresno State, including a 42-yarder with 31 seconds left to get the Bulldogs within 20-13.
Lynch tried an onside kick, but it went out of bounds, to end any hopes of a Bulldogs' comeback.
The takeaway
Fresno State: Skipper doesn't know what his future status will be beyond the bowl game, but intends to continue recruiting and navigating the transfer portal.
"Bottom line, you gotta win. That's the nature of the business," he said. "It's not about me at all. It's all about those kids."
UCLA: Linebacker Carson Schwesinger had 15 tackles, including a quarterback sack, after being named a Butkus Award finalist last week. It was the ninth double-digit tackle game for Schwesinger, who leads the Big Ten in total stops.
Up next
Fresno State: Will find out its bowl destination on Dec. 8.
UCLA: Opens the 2025 season on Aug. 30 against Utah.
