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Ethan Garbers out at QB, Justyn Martin starts against Penn State
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Ethan Garbers out at QB, Justyn Martin starts against Penn State

No more mystery: UCLA backup quarterback Justyn Martin is the starter for Saturday’s game against Penn State. Martin is a redshirt sophomore.

The Bruins used Ethan Garbers as their quarterback in the first four games of the season, but he was questionable heading into the game due to an unspecified injury.

“For UCLA at State College today, it’s four-touchdown underdogs, and they might be without quarterback Ethan Garbers,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel said on College GameDay. “I was told he will make a decision about playing time. He is expected to warm up, but has been limited in practice this week. A sophomore who has five career passing attempts has taken the first-team reps.

Garbers left the Oregon game after being sacked four times. He limped the entire second half and his final play of the match ended with Garbers holding the back of his head.

Garbers did not participate in practice on Monday, which gave Martin extra reps for Saturday’s match.

This is Martin’s first-ever collegiate start and his third appearance this season. Clearly, out of the seven quarterbacks the Bruins could have turned to, one clear candidate emerged as the best option to replace Garbers as signal caller.

“It’s just good to have some young quarterbacks who haven’t played games yet just do live replays,” Foster told Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times. “I think he’s handled it pretty well and hopefully we can build on that for Justyn.”

Martin played on two plays of UCLA’s final drive against Oregon. He completed one of four passes for seven yards.

The Oregon game marked Martin’s first major completion at the college level. In the 34-12 loss last weekend, Garbers was 12 for 20 and recorded 118 yards.

Garbers has completed a career-low 57.3 percent of his passes for 808 yards. The fifth-year senior has three touchdowns and six interceptions.

It’s certainly not the statistic the Bruins were hoping for from their starting quarterback. But UCLA has been given an extremely tough schedule.

The Bruins are currently down 7-0 against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The 4-0 Lions look to continue their undefeated streak against UCLA.

Neither team scored in the first quarter of the match. It wasn’t until the second quarter that Penn State managed to score a touchdown. Only time will tell if the match is a tale of two defenses.