Can it be freaking football season yet?! Big Ten Football is right around the corner and I thought it would be a fun concept to start talking about what the UCLA Bruins can expect from the conference’s top signal callers and where its burgeoning starting QB Ethan Garbers ranks as we get closer to football being played. So without further ado, here are the top gunslingers in the conference through my eyes.
Honorable Mentions
Aidan Chiles, Michigan State
This may be early to predict such great things from a 1st-year starter, but I fully believe this kid is the real deal. Entering his Sophomore year and 1st year starting after transferring with head coach Jonathan Smith from Oregon State to East Lansing, Chiles was so impressive in his inaugural spring and fall practices in Corvallis that some people believed he was neck and neck for the starting QB job with highly compensated transfer DJ Uiagalelei who is pegged to be Florida State’s starter this year.
Chiles, a true dual-threat quarterback, played nearly perfect in mop-up duty last year (309 yards 4 TDs, 0 INTs) and will be counted upon heavily for a rebuilding team in East Lansing offensively to generate big plays.
Tyler Van Dyke, Wisconsin
Let’s take you back to 2021. Tyler Van Dyke, then a Sophmore QB1 of the Miami Hurricanes had just put together an incredibly impressive campaign in the ACC throwing for nearly 3,000 yards and 25 TDs to only 6 INTs as it looked like he was going to be one of the better college QBs heading forward.
Injuries and inconsistent play, however, plagued him in 2022 and 2023, but 2024 presents some great optimism for his final year of eligibility as he joins forces with the Wisconsin Badgers.
His new Offensive Coordinator, Phil Longo, who had previously worked with and elevated QBs Sam Howell and Drake Maye to their potential of starting NFL-caliber QBs at North Carolina, is a great and interesting football match.
Related: What UCLA Bruins Players Are Saying About Eric Bieniemy’s Offense
Will Howard, Ohio State
Howard transfers into Columbus formerly of Kansas State and had a great redshirt junior season last year accounting for 33 TDs (24 passing, 9 rushing) while leading Kansas State to a 9-4 record and beating then-number 19 ranked NC State in the Pop Tart Bowl.
While I agree that Howard talent-wise could be a top 5 QB, I believe that he will be far from a statistically top 5 QB given his RB room, which arguably has the two best runners in the nation in Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson at tailback.
Howard just misses the list as he is likely to have the best shot at a National Championship of any QB on this list and just needs to make a couple of plays a game to succeed given the talent surrounding him.
Where Does UCLA Bruins Quarterback Ethan Garbers Rank In The Big Ten?
5. Ethan Garbers, UCLA
People from the outside will think this is a homer pick, but I really believe in Ethan Garbers’ potential in 2024 given the talent around him in the WR room as well as the new offense installed by Eric Bieniemy.
After fighting for the starting job last year, it was clear by the final 4-5 games that Garbers was unquestionably QB1 for the UCLA Bruins. He delivered a win over rival USC at The Coliseum as well as delivering the school its 1st bowl win since the 2015 Alamo Bowl while posting impressive splits of 11 TDs to only 3 INTs while completing 67 percent of his passes.
His top 3 pass catchers return and you couple that with a new offense under former Super Bowl Champion OC Eric Bieniemy who prioritizes more of a West Coast passing philosophy, the stars are in place for Garbers to leave a serious mark in 2024.
4. Miller Moss, USC
You can hate on Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans all you want for how the Trojans finished last year but there is one undeniable fact about Riley-led programs: win or lose, the QB rooms have been exceptional.
In the last 5 years alone as HC, Riley has led 4 QBs to New York in December to be Heisman finalists with three of those taking home the award (Mayfield, Murray, and Williams).
Miller Moss for a lot of people was an afterthought until last year’s Holiday Bowl when he exploded for 372 yards and a Holiday Bowl record 6 passing TDs.
The WR room and passing attack should be loaded with the explosive Zachariah Branch returning and the likes of high-level recruits Makai Lemon, Duce Robinson, and Ja’Kobi Lane ready to make big contributions.
Related: UCLA Bruins 2025 Recruiting Tracker
3. Will Rogers, Washington
Rogers, who enters his final year of eligibility after transferring to Seattle, has long been one of the best-kept secrets within college football.
A 4-year starter for Mississippi State, Rogers boasts impressive career stats of 12,000+ passing yards, 94 TDs to only 24 INTs (while completing an impressive 69.3% of his passes).
He should make his final year in college a memorable one as he is linking with rising new head coach and former QB coach Jedd Fisch for the Huskies. These two with a completely new roster for the University of Washington plan to put up big numbers for this season’s campaign.
2. Drew Allar, Penn State
Allar, a former 5-star QB prospect out of Ohio, had an enticing 1st year of starting experience for the Penn State Nittany Lions throwing for 25 TDs to only 2 INTs as a Sophomore. He, at times, struggled against the elite defenses of the conference in Michigan and Ohio State, and with ball placement, but the argument is most 1st-year QBs would perform similarly against those powers.
With all his potential, Allar needed a mentor and insert new OC Andy Kotelnicki who led the University of Kansas (not a typo!) to a top 25 offense that ranked 6th in the nation in yards per play on offense.
When you add up the potential of Allar, the initial output in season one, and a top coordinator heading to Happy Valley, it is a recipe for a monster season from the young QB.
1. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
We can debate about #’s 2-5 all we want, but Gabriel as the top Quarterback in the preseason should be inarguable in my eyes.
The current Heisman favorite, according to FanDuel, and former Central Florida and Oklahoma QB, is a veteran star within the sport that is currently about 4,500 yards passing and 31 passing TDs away from breaking former Houston Quarterback Case Keenum’s NCAA all-time marks of 19,217 passing yards and 155 TD passes.
Add in he has the #1 WR unit in the nation according to PFF with star wideouts Tez Johnson and former 5-star Evan Steward transferring in, plus arguably the top OC in the country with Will Stein, and it looks like a potential legendary final season in the works for Gabriel and the Ducks.