Bruins confident in QBs, no matter which jersey it is
LOS ANGELES ❯❯ UCLA quarterback Colin Schlee was on the field for Tuesday morning's practice, but he wasn't wearing his customary No. 9.
Across the field, receiver Kyle Ford was wearing that number. Players all over the field, aside from the scout team, had swapped jerseys with each other to celebrate Halloween.
“I'm kind of upset because everyone said I look good in the nine,” said Ford, who has been No. 19 all season. “I have to talk to him after practice, but he's been running really good with that thing right now. So I don't even want to mess up his mojo right now.”
Ford and the rest of the Bruins are still riding the waves of quarterback rotations with four games left in the Pac-12 season and it seems like any jersey number — with the correct player wearing it — could appear under center.
Ethan Garbers has started the past two games against Stanford and Colorado and completed 40 of 55 passes for a combined 509 yards and four touchdowns with one interception.
“Throughout practice, he pushes to the tempo,” redshirt junior offensive lineman Bruno Fina said of Garbers. “Like, hey, guys, let's get going. If someone has a bad play, he's encouraging them. He's lifting them up. He's going, he's talking to the defense, the defense is coming and talking to him.”
Garbers has been resilient, too. He has been able to produce despite being sacked a combined six times. The offensive line's newest faces, which include transfers Khadere Kounta (Old Dominion), Spencer Hostege (Purdue) and Jake Wiley (Colorado), are still gaining experience as the season continues.
“I think we're making strides every week,” Fina said. “We have a couple dudes rotating every once in a while. And I think that we're just learning week
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Saturday: by week how to work with each other and get the communication and the calls and making sure we're all doing the right thing.”
The offensive line and receivers focus on running their plays and routes as the quarterback situation stays flexible week in and week out.
Ford said he has a friendship with Garbers that allows for frankness and honest feedback, but also that he has faith in all of the quarterbacks.
“I just hope that they can get it to me,” he said. “I'll even catch a ball at practice and I'll come back to the sideline and be like, `Who threw that?' And then whoever it was, it's like, `Oh, good job.'”
Ford gets manicure tips from USC QB
Ford had a coat of clear polish on his fingernails
Tuesday morning — at the recommendation from USC quarterback and former teammate Caleb Williams.
“It's a tip from one-three over there,” the Trojans transfer said.
The receiver said he remembered some manicure advice from his mom growing up, but that Williams had suggested gel nail polish because of its durability. The two had played with each other at USC for the 2022 season before Ford transferred to UCLA.
Now a Bruin, Ford has played in eight games with 13 receptions for 152 yards, but he's yet to score a touchdown.
Williams has new nail art ahead of every big game and has explained in a video from the USC athletics department that he has a mom who is a manicurist.
“I love it,” Ford said. “It's him and he's a great ballplayer. So it's like, you do whatever you want. He's different in the best way. And he's a good dude, too.”