Just a few days ago, it didn’t take much imagination to picture UCLA finishing 2-10 or 1-11.
Now one doesn’t need Penn & Teller to conjure visions of a bowl game.
A massive recalibration seemed in order after the Bruins posted their first Big Ten victory Saturday and their remaining opponents appeared increasingly vulnerable.
Nebraska gave up 56 points during a loss to Indiana and must face Ohio State on the road next weekend before UCLA goes to Lincoln on Nov. 2.
Iowa lost to Michigan State, the Hawkeyes’ second setback in three weeks.
Washington got pounded by Iowa in its most recent game and managed just 18 points in a loss to Rutgers on the same field where the Bruins nearly doubled that total against the Scarlet Knights.
USC has lost four of its last five games and is being coached by someone who might go down as less popular among the fan base than Clay Helton.
Fresno State is .500 and has looked equally middling.
To UCLA’s credit, its players never quit after losing five of their first six games and put together what was easily their best start-to-finish game during a 35-32 victory over Rutgers on Saturday at SHI Stadium.
Here are four takeaways from a game the Bruins (2-5 overall, 1-4 Big Ten) hope can propel them to winning at least four of their last five games, which would make them eligible for a bowl game:
Remember him?
This was the Ethan Garbers that many were expecting to see from the season opener.
Then came a crummy offensive line, a nonexistent run game and some forced passes amid slow-developing plays.
As recently as this time last week, a healthy portion of the fan base was calling for the fifth-year senior quarterback to be replaced by redshirt sophomore Justyn Martin as part of a youth movement.
But Garbers showed Saturday that the present is worth fighting for. He was prolific, throwing for a career-high 383 yards and four touchdowns. He was crazy efficient, completing 32 of 38 passes (84%). He showed he could run the ball, racing past the entire Rutgers defense on a career-best 49-yard touchdown run.
If this version of Garbers shows up the rest of the season — and the offensive line protects him — then UCLA will have a chance to win each of its remaining games.
Bold leads the way
Coach DeShaun Foster had taken some heat for his conservative decision-making through the first half of the season, routinely punting instead of going for it in fourth-and-short situations.
He did it again a little more than a week ago, when getting one measly yard on fourth down would have sealed a victory over Minnesota.
Yet in a decision that symbolized his team’s offensive breakthrough, Foster elected to go for it on fourth and one — from the Bruins’ 18-yard line — in the second quarter.
Good call. Garbers ran for two yards and the Bruins went on to score a touchdown. This is the sort of aggressive mindset that characterized Foster as a running back, and it would do him wonders if he kept it going forward.
Smart guy
The only member of UCLA’s coaching staff more maligned than Foster through the first half of the season might have been offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
Critics contended that Bieniemy didn’t call enough running plays, adequately compensate for a shoddy offensive line or simplify a complex scheme for his players.
None of those knocks applied Saturday. Bieniemy’s quick realization that Rutgers was not covering running backs coming out of the backfield on pass plays led to one big gain after another. UCLA’s running backs collected three of the team’s four receiving touchdowns, helping the Bruins more than double their previous season high for points scored in a game.
“I was definitely looking to exploit that with a guy like Keegan Jones back there,” Garbers said of the running back who caught five passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. “I mean, you give him the ball at the line of scrimmage, he turns that thing into 20, 40 yards. Today, he turned it into a house call.”
Garbers also benefited from an approach that allowed him to rely more on quick-hitters and checkdowns. And the running game would have topped 100 yards for the first time this season had the Bruins not needed three consecutive kneel-downs to run out the clock.
Tough enough
UCLA’s defense did enough to win a game.
This time, it was rewarded.
It’s true that there were repeated breakdowns in a secondary that also fell short when it came to its coach’s discipline pillar — three consecutive penalties late in the game nearly allowed a massive comeback — but those same players came through in decisive moments.
Safety Bryan Addison intercepted a pass to end one late Rutgers drive, and the Bruins stuffed the Scarlet Knights on a pair of two-point conversions that could have changed the complexion of the game.
There were also more heroics from Carson Schwesinger, the linebacker that Addison has dubbed “Captain America.” Schwesinger’s 10 tackles marked the fifth consecutive game he has tallied double figures in that category, making him the first UCLA player to do so since Eric Kendricks in 2014.
“He’s just one of those guys who does everything right,” Addison said, “does everything for the team and then he comes out here on Saturdays and plays even better.”