A little more than three hours before kickoff, a report surfaced Saturday that UCLA head coach Chip Kelly was expected to make a change at quarterback.

When the Bruins’ offense trotted onto the field, it was indeed redshirt junior Ethan Garbers, and not five-star freshman Dante Moore, who lined up behind center, took the first snap against Stanford and completed his first pass to California transfer wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant to get the contest started.

With 25th-ranked UCLA plagued by opening-drive interceptions in recent weeks, Garbers completed all four of his throws and led an 11-play, 75-yard series capped by a Carson Steele 2-yard touchdown run to begin a dominant 42-7 win over Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.

It was the Bruins' first Pac-12 road win of the season after losses at Utah and Oregon State.

Garbers completed 20 of 28 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns without an interception over three-plus quarters of action.

It was Garbers' first appearance at quarterback since a brief run in the Sept. 16 nonconference finale against North Carolina Central. It also was his second start after opening the season and playing most of the first three quarters against Coastal Carolina.

Moore was supplanted after throwing twice as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns (three) through the first three Pac-12 games — including first-drive interceptions and pick-sixes in each contest.

With a 42-7 lead, Moore checked into the game at the 12:09 mark in the fourth quarter. He completed 4 of 5 passes for 26 yards in his lone series before Chase Griffin finished out the rest of the contest.

The Bruins (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) also got three first-half rushing touchdowns from Steele, who finished with 76 yards on 20 carries. The three touchdowns matched a career high set last season while at Ball State.

The Cardinal (2-5, 1-4 Pac-12), who came into the contest with the nation's second-worst pass defense among 130 FBS teams, allowed 282 of 503 yards through the air.

First quarter

10:27, UCLA: RB Carson Steele 2-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, R.J. Lopez), 7-0 UCLA

7:15, UCLA: RB Carson Steele 8-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, R.J. Lopez), 14-0 UCLA

Second quarter

5:27, UCLA: RB Carson Steele 3-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, R.J. Lopez), 21-0 UCLA

Third quarter

8:28, UCLA: QB Ethan Garbers to WR J.Michael Sturdivant, 8-yard TD pass (PAT GOOD, R.J. Lopez), 28-0 UCLA

4:56, UCLA: QB Ethan Garbers to TE Moliki Matavao, 20-yard TD pass (PAT GOOD, R.J. Lopez), 35-0 UCLA

3:11, Stanford: QB Ashton Daniels to WR Tiger Bachmeier, 20-yard TD pass (PAT GOOD, Joshua Karty), 35-7 UCLA

Fourth quarter

14:28, UCLA: RB T.J. Harden 22-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, R.J. Lopez), 42-7 UCLA

UCLA got its offense into the red zone on the first four drives, finishing off three with Steele touchdown runs to take a 21-0 lead into halftime.

The lone blemish was the third series, when Garbers was sacked twice to put the Bruins just outside the red zone and an R.J. Lopez field goal was blocked late in the first quarter.

Garbers made quick decisions and got the ball out just as quickly, as the Bruins' offense moved downfield at will from the start. He completed his first eight passes and UCLA was already up 14-0 by the time his ninth pass attempt fell incomplete just outside of the red zone and things stalled on the third drive.

Just as important, Garbers was able to get both Sturdivant and USC transfer receiver Kyle Ford involved in the passing attack early after both have been nonfactors of late.

Garbers was particularly effective on third-down throws, completing 7 of 9 passes for 62 yards while converting five for first downs.

Steele, meanwhile, celebrated his 21st birthday in style with a pair of first-quarter touchdown runs before tacking on a third late in the second.

It could have been a variety of choices for various reasons, but Murphy collected two of UCLA's four sacks and continued to be a disruptive presence to pair along with standout edge rusher Laiatu Latu.

Collectively, the Bruins did not allow the Cardinal much breathing room to run and extend drives.

After already finding Sturdivant for a score earlier in the third quarter, one of Garbers’ better throws was on the run to his right and finding Oregon transfer tight end Moliki Matavao in a window for a 20-yard touchdown and 35-0 lead at the 4:56 mark.

Plain and simple: The Bruins took care of the football and established the run early and did not deviate from the plan.

In the first half, UCLA ran the ball 31 times and attempted 17 passes en route to a 21-point halftime lead.

The defense also bounced back from its worst performance of the season. Stanford generated 292 yards of total offense, went 1 of 11 of third down and was unsuccessful on all four fourth-down conversion attempts.

Passing

Ethan Garbers: 20 of 28 for 240 yards, 2 TDs

Dante Moore: 4 of 5 for 26 yards

Rushing

Carson Steele: 20 carries for 76 yards, 3 TDs

T.J. Harden: 12 carries for 55 yards, TD

Ethan Garbers: 8 carries for 51 yards

Receiving

J.Michael Sturdivant: 5 catches for 54 yards, TD

Josiah Norwood: 5 catches for 34 yards

Logan Loya: 4 catches for 39 yards

Moliki Matavao: 1 catch for 20 yards, TD