Alexander: Dante Moore should be UCLA’s quarterback, period

SAN DIEGO – Let the kid play, they said.

And what do you know? Chip Kelly did Saturday night, and it worked out well.

UCLA’s coach came into the game against San Diego State with the intention of playing all three of his quarterbacks, freshman Dante Moore, senior Ethan Garbers and junior transfer Collin Schlee, the idea being that the question of who would be No. 1 hadn’t yet been decided.

Kelly still won’t admit it has. It will happen eventually, he acknowledged after the Bruins’ 35-10 beatdown of the Aztecs, but he added: “Not tonight.”

But the first three quarters would suggest that if it hasn’t already, it’s inevitable. SDSU, so desperate to get into the Pac-12 before the entire conference disintegrated, may not yet be the caliber of the teams the Bruins will see deeper into their schedule. But Moore grabbed his opportunity and ran with it, and he doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting go.

In his three quarters Moore was 17 for 27 for 290 yards and threw three touchdown passes. And the very first one may have been his statement: An 81-yard strike to Josiah Norwood off of play action on the first play after an Aztecs’ punt.

Later there was a 17-yard bullet to Logan Loya with 1:29 left in the first half, after getting the ball at the Bruins’ 15 with 2:16 to play. And the last was a sidearm sling off of play action that Carsen Ryan turned into a 6-yard touchown play for a 35-10 lead with 2:05 left in the third.

Any further questions?

Schlee, the transfer from Kent State who didn’t get into last week’s game against Coastal Carolina, got into the game in the fourth quarter and had a couple of nice runs on his first series before it was ended by a fumble, but he spent most of his time handing off. Garbers did not get in the game, and presumably will get a decent run next week against North Carolina Central.

But it shouldn’t matter. The Bruins have their leader, a dynamic quarterback with a huge arm and the poise to go with it.

“I thought Dante did exactly what we’ve seen since he’s been here in January,” Kelly said. “We’ve talked about there’s a maturity to Dante. He doesn’t get overwhelmed by whatever the situation is. And I thought what people saw today is what we’ve seen for a while from him. And he obviously did some really nice things for us today.”

So, then, it’s settled?

“We just played a game,” Kelly said. “So we do everything as a staff and we’ll sit down and talk about everything we do and what gives us the opportunity to be successful. And again, I feel like we have three guys that are really good football players. So that’s that’s something that not every team can say. And, you know, we’ll see how this whole thing plays itself out.”

Moore’s time on the UCLA campus in the winter and spring quarters and his opportunity to participate in spring ball helped prepare him for these moments.

“If I’d have came in the fall or whenever. I think I’ll be screwed right now for sure,” he said. “I’m actually really happy that I got the chance to come in early … I keep bringing (his team’s defense) up, but having (Laiatu) Latu coming off the age, being on your back, just really trying to put that pressure on you actually helped a lot. Of course, in the pocket, a lot of teams going to blitz, lots of their pressure. But just having a practice seeing how different fronts are, different coverages … I really appreciate the defense for all the hard work they put in to make sure we are successful.”

Come to think of it, UCLA’s defense made its own statement Saturday night, intercepting San Diego State quarterback Jalen Mayden three times. And they bailed Moore out, too, after a strip-sack had apparently been recovered by SDSU’s Trey White for a touchdown before a review showed White wasn’t in the end zone. With first and goal at the Bruins’ 1, the Aztecs didn’t score and Darius Murasau intercepted in the end zone to end the series.

Kelly insists that he has three quality quarterbacks, and he sees them every day in practice and we don’t, so you’ve got to take that into account. But trying to shoehorn three guys into a position designed for one leader, even if it’s just for the early weeks of the season, could be asking for trouble.

There is, at least, harmony in the quarterback room, Moore said: “If I’m starting with the ones, (or) if Garbs is with the ones or Collin with the ones, we’re always going to uplift each other. If I make a mistake, they’re gonna correct me. If they make a mistake I correct them. I appreciate how we are as brothers and we never hate, anything like that. We always want to make certain that we always succeed.”

But sometimes performance has to take precedence.

“Oh, he balled out,” said senior defensive back Alex Johnson, who had UCLA’s other two interceptions. “I think he led the offense great. He was very poised in the way he made his decisions. Obviously, there’s some things to clean up, but we’ve got a lot more weeks for that. We’ve got time. He’s still young.

“I think he looks great. He’s a baller.”

L.A. hasn’t had a good quarterback controversy for a while, and there’s no reason to let one fester here.

Let the kid play, Chip.

jalexander@scng.com