PISCATAWAY – On paper, the first-ever visit from UCLA should have signalled a relatively easy chance for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to get back on track in Big Ten play after a two-game skid. It’s never that simple. Not here. Ranked well outside of the Top 100 nationally with just 272 yards of total offense on average and 14.5 points per game – numbers that were both near the worst in the country – the Bruins looked like juggernauts in front of 53,726 fans at a sold out SHI Stadium, stunning Rutgers, 35-32, in a game in which the Scarlet Knights never held the lead and never felt quite as close the final score would indicate. Senior quarterback Ethan Garbers threw four touchdown passes and ran for another, and the Rutgers defense allowed a whopping 478 total yards to the previously 1-5 Bruins. “I will not come up here and start to feel like the sky is falling, that I promise you,” Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said. “We did a lot of good things out there today, just didn’t play well enough to win.” A 4-0 start has evaporated into a 4-3 disappointment, with hopes of a trip to a bowl game that holds any actual meaning quickly dwindling, no less a .500 or better record that would get them another postseason appearance. “We will get there, this program will get there,” Schiano said, speaking about overall success. “I know that there’s going to be certain people that want to cast their ballot, and say ‘Oh, I guess we got big problems.’ You call your shot. Just remember, we will get there, I promise you. You want to call your shot now? Just call it. But, know that you’re calling your shot.  This program will be just fine.” PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY – OCTOBER 19: Athan Kaliakmanis #16 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights looks to pass during the first half of their game against the UCLA Bruins at SHI Stadium on October 19, 2024 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty Images) Just not on Saturday. An injury-riddled Rutgers defense was sliced and diced all day long; Bruins head coach Deshaun Foster and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy — yes, the very same one who ran the offense for the Kansas City Chiefs in two of their Super Bowl wins — put together an efficient gameplan in gaining consistent small chunks to slowly march down the field, but UCLA managed big plays when needed to help pull away late. Garbers capped off a game-opening 11-play, 75-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to Logan Loya to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead with 9:03 left in the first quarter, one that was quickly matched by a short Athan Kaliakmanis run into the end zone less than five minutes later. Momentum seemed to shift on the ensuing possession, however; Garbers turned something out of nothing, producing a 49-yard touchdown run on a scramble in which he eluded Rutgers defender Desmond Igbinosun with a deft juke that helped put UCLA out to a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. Jai Patel’s long field goal cut the Rutgers deficit to just four late in the first half, but Garbers engineered a dagger of a drive after that, moving the team 75 yards in just seven plays and 46 seconds to ultimately connect with T.J. Harden for a 22-yard scoring strike to send UCLA to the locker rooms up 21-10 at the half. The Scarlet Knights were mostly chasing the game after that, and got close after a rushing touchdown from Kyle Monangai and Patel field goal on their first two possessions of the second half, but a 67-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Keegan Jones once again broke the game open for the Bruins with 4:53 left in the third quarter and a 28-19 lead.  Garbers threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day with 12:13 left in regulation, finding a wide open Jalen Berger on a scramble to his right on third down to up the advantage to 35-19. Monangai’s second scoring run of the day with 10:35 left narrowed the deficit to 35-25, but a two-point conversion attempt failed for the second time on the day, and Athan Kaliakmanis was picked off on the next drive, which seemingly squashed any chance of a miraculous comeback. A late Kyonte Hamilton strip sack and fumble recovery on Garbers with under four minutes to play in regulation provided late hope, but it was too little, too late; Monangai capped off his third-career three-touchdown game with 1:45 left, but with no timeouts left, Rutgers was unable to recover the onsides kick, which briefly appeared to be returned for a touchdown before it was ruled a fair catch had been signalled prior to that occurring. A defense that was missing several key components heading into Saturday’s noon matinee has now allowed 77 points over the last two games after last week’s 42-7 demolition at the hands of Wisconsin, and will arguably face a bigger challenge on the road next week when they visit USC. “Two hundred twenty-three yards after the catch, that’s the stat that just smacks me in the face,” Schiano said. “We didn’t tackle well, why is that? Did we forget how to tackle?  Michigan and Rutgers were back-and-forth last year for the best tackling team in football…we didn’t forget how. We didn’t forget how to coach it, we didn’t forget how to do it, it’s mostly the same guys. It looks easy, it’s like a video game, you just take a guy out and he’s down. That’s not how it is.”