If there was ever a time for UCLA to turn its season around, it was against Minnesota in the Rose Bowl.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, the return of Ethan Garbers, who missed last week’s game against Penn State due to injury, wasn’t enough to stop their downward spiral.

In a hard-fought game, UCLA failed to secure its first Big Ten Conference victory in school history, losing 21-17 to Minnesota on its home court on Saturday night.

Despite taking a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter on Garbers’ 42-yard connection with J. Michael Sturdivant, the Bruins couldn’t fend off a Minnesota rally.

The UCLA defense got one stop, but the Bruins offense was forced to punt quickly and the Golden Gophers scored a touchdown with 27 seconds left. Garbers’ final pass was intercepted as time expired to seal UCLA’s fifth straight loss.

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster said he needs to figure out how to teach his players to deliver a complete game and avoid late-game mistakes that have haunted the Bruins.

“We just have to find ways to avoid shooting ourselves in the foot,” he said. “…This is a tough loss. This is going to sting a little.”

The result was especially frustrating for UCLA after a strong first half.

Garbers had a stellar performance on the opening drive, going four of four for 59 yards and leading the Bruins to the goal line before Keegan Jones capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

While the Bruins’ defense thrived in the first half, the offense suffered early hiccups. After the first quarter, the team was ineffective on third down, giving up sacks and Garbers throwing interceptions that limited the Bruins’ halftime advantage to 10–0.

UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers looks to pass in the first half of the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

In the second half, Minnesota struck with consecutive scoring drives. A costly pass interference call got the Gophers into the UCLA red zone and on third down the Bruins delivered a 12-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Elijah Spencer, closing the gap.

One of Garbers’ interceptions in the second half put Minnesota deep in Bruins territory.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Gophers into the red zone and another pass interference call in the end zone put Minnesota on the goal line. Darius Taylor then pushed through for a touchdown, giving the Golden Gophers a 14-10 lead before the Bruins rallied in the fourth quarter.

UCLA got the ball at the 11-yard line with 12:38 left in the fourth quarter and Garbers dodged the pressure as he sent the team into the end zone.

Garbers completed passes for TJ Harden and Logan Loya before finding Sturdivant for a 14-yard reception. With 6:54 to go, Garbers hit Sturdivant for the 42-yard catch that briefly gave the Bruins the lead.

Sturdivant, a redshirt junior, finished with six receptions for 94 yards and the touchdown. Garbers completed 25 of 36 passes for 293 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions.

The Bruins ultimately couldn’t match Minnesota’s ball movement and efficient clock management, including Golden Gophers coach P.J. Fleck calling three timeouts on UCLA’s penultimate drive to secure enough time for his team to score the game-winning touchdown would be.