UCLA football gives Collin Schlee starting nod at quarterback – Orange County Register

PASADENA  – Collin Schlee started at quarterback for UCLA in Saturday evening’s game against Arizona State.

Schlee completed 5 of 9 passes for 56 yards and ran for an additional 7 yards on six carries in the first half. It was the Kent State transfer’s sixth appearance in a game this season. The Bruins trailed 3-0 at halftime and had a total of 113 rushing yards by the break, with Keegan Jones getting two carries for 45 yards.

UCLA quarterbacks Dante Moore, Ethan Garbers, Colin Schlee, Justyn Martin and Chase Griffin are all dressed and out for warmups. pic.twitter.com/quE40djsZT

— Haley Sawyer (@haleymsawyer) November 12, 2023

All four of UCLA’s quarterbacks had warmed up prior to the game, including Ethan Garbers and Dante Moore, who missed practice on Monday due to injury. Garbers and Moore returned and participated in practice starting on Tuesday, although Garbers was walking gingerly.

“It’s very encouraging,” head coach Chip Kelly told reporters on Wednesday, “and I think it’s a credit to those guys and how they’re built. So we’ll see how Wednesday goes with them.”

Moore and Garbers each suffered injuries toward the end of UCLA’s last outing against Arizona, a 27-10 loss.

UCLA HONORS VETERANS

UCLA football Chief of Staff Bryce McDonald was named the 2023 UCLA Veteran of the Year and was honored at the Rose Bowl after the first quarter on Saturday evening.

McDonald graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2003 and went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps. He was stationed in Iraq in 2006, where he was injured and awarded a Purple Heart.

“He puts things in perspective for all of us that what we’re doing is a game,” head coach Chip Kelly told reporters on Monday. “What we’re doing is probably a luxury. And there are people like Bryce who have made sacrifices so that we can live the life that we live here in America and there are people who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”

The football program has four veterans on its staff in McDonald, Operations and Player Development Assistant Mike Poppa, nutrition intern Ricky Gutierrez and graduate assistant Anthony Goliver.

UCLA also offered free tickets for veterans to the game as part of its Veteran & Armed Forces Appreciation Game promotion.

“It shouldn’t be just one day that honors the veterans, I think we should always keep them in high regard in terms of what they do,” Kelly said.

Chaminade kicker Ryon Sayeri, the No. 2 kicker in the nation in the Chris Sailer rankings, was on the sidelines before UCLA’s game. It was Sayeri’s first UCLA game after previously attending almost exclusively USC games.

Sayeri kicked a 50-yard field goal on Friday night to help Chaminade beat Villa Park 30-16 in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.

Sayeri, a senior, will appear in the All American Bowl on Jan. 4.