Freshman Dante Moore lifts UCLA past Coastal Carolina – Daily News

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PASADENA — Freshman quarterback Dante Moore wore a carefree smile as he took in the scene of the Rose Bowl ahead of UCLA’s Saturday evening game against Coastal Carolina.

He was one of two quarterbacks who played in the game, but he embraced the opportunity and threw for two touchdowns in the Bruins’ 27-13 win over Coastal Carolina.

“There wasn’t pressure,” Moore said. “I got more excited than nervous. When I took the field, all the fans were (standing) for me and I appreciate that. I felt that giving me more juice.”

The freshman completed 7 of 12 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He whipped a highlight reel-worthy 62-yard touchdown pass to J.Michael Sturdivant immediately upon being brought in for the second time late in the third quarter. The crowd roared, but they were already cheering for him each time he ran onto the field.

His counterpart, Garbers, was 10-for-17 for 121 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

“Me and Dante talked after the game and at the end of the day, we both want to see each other succeed,” Garbers said. “That’s all it is. What matters first is the team and winning games. Whatever happens happens and those are the two priorities.”

Running backs TJ Harden and Carson Steele split carries almost evenly and each ran for 76 yards apiece. Steele made his first appearance at the Rose Bowl after transferring from Ball State.

“They both run very physical,” coach Chip Kelly said. “Sometimes when there’s an unblocked safety, they’ve got some physicality to them where they can run through a tackle. That’s always a bonus. I thought both of them really complemented each other really well and they’ll continue to grow.”

Garbers started the game at quarterback, as was announced by coach Chip Kelly earlier in the week, and Carson Steele was first up at running back. The two teamed up to engineer UCLA’s first touchdown of the game, which came just two minutes in.

Garbers, a redshirt junior, tossed to Steele for a 10-yard gain before throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to Carsen Ryan to get UCLA (1-0) on the board. It was the first touchdown of Ryan’s career.

“All week in practice when we ran that play, Colson (Yankoff) was getting the ball,” Garbers said. “And when I was looking out there, the corner was just starting at me and I saw Carsen slip right behind him and just made the throw.”

Colin Schlee, whom Kelly previously said would also get into the game, did not get on the field on Saturday night. Kelly said after the game the Schlee would play in next week’s game against San Diego State.

Garbers kept chugging along, throwing back-to-back completions to Kyle Ford, a transfer from USC, with no huddle in between. There was a hitch in his momentum when he was intercepted by Clayton Isbell in the end zone with 2:45 to go in the first quarter.

Moore started warming up during a media timeout early in the second quarter and like Garbers, scored a touchdown in his first drive. He scrambled, then ran right and launched a 39-yard pass to Sturdivant (five catches, 136 yards) on third down to get to the 43-yard line. He connected with Steele for a 14-yard touchdown on the next play.

The Bruins’ defense, lead by first-year defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, gave up two field goals in the first half. D’Anton Lynn took the sideline as the Bruins’ defensive coordinator for the first time and saw Darius Muasau lead the defense with nine total tackles. Kain Medrano followed with seven tackles and Laiatu Latu had four tackles, three sacks and three tackles for a loss.

UCLA’s defense gave up a total of 345 yards of offense, but only allowed 56 rushing yards.

“With it being the first game with coach D Lynn, I thought it went really well,” Medrano said. “We’ve got the best d-line in the nation. Hands down. It’s fun to let them get loose and do what they do.”

The Chanticleers (0-1) scored their first touchdown in the third quarter. Grayson McCall hit Sam Pinckney with a 52-yard strike, which got Coastal Carolina to the 20-yard line. The pair connected again for a 9-yard touchdown pass soon after.

Garbers came back into the game with 10 minutes left in the frame, but was intercepted by Isbell for the second time two minutes later. Moore was brought back in on the Bruins’ next possession and threw his 62-yard touchdown pass to pull UCLA ahead of Coastal Carolina, 21-13.

Isbell logged his third interception of the game, picking off Moore with 8:16 left on the clock, but UCLA got the ball right back when John Humphrey intercepted McCall. Jaylin Davies had also intercepted McCall in the third quarter for his fourth career pick as a Bruin.

“I don’t know if people know how good a quarterback Grayson McCall is,” Kelly said. “And for us to come in here and pick him twice, that’s really rare.”

RJ Lopez made two field goals of 31 and 47 yards, respectively, before the end of the game and Gabriel Murphy forced and then recovered a fumble to shut down Coastal Carolina.

UCLA heads to San Diego State next Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff before returning home to the Rose Bowl to face North Carolina Central for its Black Excellence Game.

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