UCLA Football: Ethan Garbers Ranked Low in QB Big Ten Power Rankings

Jeremy Hanna | Aug 14, 2024

Dec 16, 2023; Inglewood, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Ethan Garbers (4) reacts after defeating the Boise State Broncos in the Starco Brands LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 season is going to be an intriguing year for UCLA Football.

Not only do they have a new head coach in DeShaun Foster and a new offensive coordinator in Eric Brieniemy, but they finally have a single starting quarterback after spending 2023 swapping between Ethan Garbers, Dante Moore, and Collin Schlee.

Now, with both Moore and Schlee transferring to other schools, all of the focus will be on Garbers.

Recently, Andy Backstrom of On3 created a power ranking of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten conference. Of the eighteen teams, Garber was only ranked at No. 11.

"Garbers has seen action each of the last three seasons," Backstrom said. "He was the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 8 quarterback in the 2020 class and finished 2023 on a high note, throwing 10 scores and just one pick over his final 128 attempts while being named Offensive MVP of the Starco Brands LA Bowl. Factor in a new OC, longtime NFL assistant Eric Bieniemy, and Garbers is even more intriguing."

Garbers may have finished the 2023 season with a strong performance, going 9-for-12 with 152 yards and two touchdowns, but his full season wasn't quite as spectacular.

Appearing in 11 games, Garbers threw for 1,136 yards and 11 touchdowns. Compare this to the No. 1 quarterback on the list, Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 3,660 yards and 30 touchdowns across 12 games.

Still, Foster has nothing but the utmost confidence in Garbers.

“Ethan’s the one,” Foster said. “He's QB1. You guys are watching him, he’s spinning it pretty well right now. His leadership has really grown and he’s just taking on the role of being QB1.”

Bieniemy agreed with Foster, happily speaking about the amount of freedom he has in an interview with Bruin Report Online's David Woods.

"One thing that you learn when you're in this position, yes, you don't want to handcuff those guys," Bieniemy said. "You want to give them freedom if you feel like they can handle it. But with that comes a great deal of responsibility. But my job is to make sure, all right not just me, but our entire coaching staff, that we're giving our guys answers."

"I don't want to handcuff us, OK? So, Ethan right now, seems to be at a stage where he can handle that. And we'll give 'em the keys, you know, every now and then we may take 'em away. But, at the end of the day, he's doing a good job right now of handling that and we just got to continue to grow with him because, when it's all said and done with, if he can handle it, now it just helps us even more to become better offensively."

In the LA Bowl, Garbers proved he can perform exceptionally when it matters. Hopefully, he'll be able to bring that performance to the entire NCAA season.

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