INGLEWOOD, Calif. — UCLA head coach Chip Kelly came into Saturday's LA Bowl against Boise State and proclaimed quarterback Ethan Garbers had the "it factor," even as he battled through a season-long quarterback triangle shuffle.

Before the game, though, Garbers wasn't feeling 100%, on top of dealing with final exams that kept him away from the team at various points in the week.

"That's the type of player he is. He said, 'I think you gotta go with Collin (Schlee). But I'm ready to be a backup if we have to go," Kelly said.

Schlee, the Kent State transfer who was effective with his legs through one half, went down with an injury following a 44-yard run during the first Bruins offensive drive in the third quarter, and it was Garbers who was called upon to show exactly what that "it factor" looked like.

After all, another momentary setback was only par for the course in a season of ups and downs. Garbers was essentially prepared for such times.

"When Collin went down, I asked him, 'Are you ready to go?' He said he was and he played fantastic," Kelly said.

In a bowl game offensive most valuable player performance, Garbers threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns and led the Bruins to a come-from-behind, 35-22 victory at SoFi Stadium.

"That whole performance was for the team, for the seniors," Garbers said.

"I kind of flipped that switch in my head, you know, it's time to go to work and I think that's what we did.

"I would just say my entire football career has been resilient. That's life. Coach Kelly says it all the time, life is hard and if you can find a way to get through these battles and win those battles, it's going to help you out in the long run."

The redshirt junior, who completed 9 of 12 passes, guided UCLA (8-5) to 21 third-quarter points to flip the momentum, while the Bruins' defense shook off an uneven first half and overcame the absence of star edge rusher Laiatu Latu (opt out, NFL draft).

UCLA linebacker Darius Muasau made a team-high 11 tackles, including 2 1/2 for a loss, to earn the game's defensive MVP honors.

"The first half, we weren't really playing to the standard that we set out for ourselves," Muasau said. "Going into the locker room...we had our captain step up, give a little speech and that's all we needed to kind of kick our butts and get into the right mindset."

Boise State (8-6), which scored on all four of its first-half drives that included three Jonah Dalmas field goals, was forced to punt on its next five drives to open the second half.

Broncos running back George Holani's 66-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run for the game's final margin was much too late. Holani finished with 138 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

UCLA's 35 points were a change in fortune for an offense that struggled down the stretch of the regular season, scoring 10 or fewer points in three of the last four games — and led to calls to fire Kelly.

Now, Kelly, who completed his sixth season, has his first bowl win in Westwood and the program's first since 2015.

Kelly joined Jim Mora Jr. (2012-15), Terry Donahue (1984-88) and Henry "Red" Sanders (1952-55) as the only UCLA coaches to win at least eight games in three consecutive seasons.

Garbers gave Kelly one more thing to smile about, announcing he was returning to UCLA next season.

"Merry Christmas!" Kelly added, patting his quarterback on the back.

"He knows he's the starting quarterback here, so I've got great faith in him."

First quarter

8:58, BSU: PK Jonah Dalmas 33-yard field goal, 3-0 Boise State

3:36, BSU: PK Jonah Dalmas 23-yard field goal, 6-0 Boise State

0:48, UCLA: QB Collin Schlee to TE Hudson Habermehl, 5-yard TD pass (PAT GOOD, Blake Glessner), 7-6 UCLA

Second quarter

10:47, BSU: PK Jonah Dalmas 33-yard field goal, 9-7 Boise State

4:33, BSU: RB George Holani 1-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, Jonah Dalmas), 16-7 Boise State

Third quarter

10:03, UCLA: QB Ethan Garbers to WR Kyle Ford, 5-yard TD pass (PAT GOOD, Blake Glessner), 16-14 Boise State

3:03, UCLA: RB T.J. Harden 1-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, Blake Glessner), 21-16 UCLA

0:36, UCLA: RB T.J. Harden 14-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, Blake Glessner), 28-16 UCLA

Fourth quarter

6:11, UCLA: QB Ethan Garbers to WR J.Michael Sturdivant, 40-yard TD pass (PAT GOOD, Blake Glessner), 35-16 UCLA

5:08, BSU: RB George Holani 66-yard TD run (2-point conversion failed), 35-22 UCLA

Trailing 16-7 in the third, Schlee's big run put the Bruins inside the Broncos' 10-yard line at the 11:33 mark. After the hit, though, he laid on the right sideline, with his helmet off, and had to be removed from the game.

Garbers wasted little time finding a rhythm and his third pass went to wide receiver Kyle Ford for a 5-yard touchdown to pull within 16-14.

The UCLA defense, which did not produce a first-half sack, then got into the column on edge rusher Gabriel Murphy's tackle of Boise State quarterback CJ Tiller for a loss of 3 yards to force a punt.

Garbers, who completed his first eight passes, then guided a nine-play drive highlighted by a 39-yard completion to wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant and capped by a T.J. Harden 1-yard touchdown run to pull ahead 21-16 with 3:03 left in the third.

The Bruins' defense came up with a three-and-out and almost as quickly the offense was back in the end zone.

UCLA went three plays in 57 seconds, including a 41-yard connection from Garbers to Sturdivant and a 14-yard rushing score from Harden, the Inglewood native.

In the fourth, Garbers and Sturdivant capped their standout performances with a 40-yard touchdown to push the Bruins' lead to 35-16 with 6:11 to play.

Sturdivant finished with four catches for 142 yards.

Just as important as Garbers himself, though, was his ability to immediately include Sturdivant and Ford in the offense after both struggled to make an impact for most of the season.

Garbers was able to stretch the field with his two big targets and offer a change of pace from the run-heavy Schlee, who did find tight end Hudson Habermehl on an early score.

In short, the offense just looked different when Garbers entered the game and the Bruins never looked back.

To open the game, Boise State ran for 126 first-half yards and it looked like the absence of Latu and departure of defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn would doom UCLA.

Instead, the Bruins were able to at least limit the Broncos to three field goals as part of a 16-7 halftime deficit.

Then, Muasau and the vaunted pass rush led by acting defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe showed up in the second half and it looked like a unit that was not missing a unanimous All-American, Lombardi Award winner and Pac-12 defensive player of the year.

In addition to Muasau, Grayson Murphy had 1 1/2 tackles for a loss and twin brother Gabriel Murphy and linebacker Kain Medrano added one apiece. The Murphys were responsible for the Bruins' two sacks.

But it was Muasau who rallied to the ball all game, from start to finish, and held UCLA together until its offense did its part in the second half.

Garbers' final 40-yard touchdown to Sturdivant told the story of an offense that received a jolt once he came on in relief:

The Bruins were able to overcome 12 penalties for 89 yards, many of which were false starts, thanks to Garbers' ability to find his biggest receivers for explosive plays.

UCLA looked like the offense that was projected to have one of the best receiving corps the school had ever seen, instead of the one that failed to find Ford and Sturdivant for significant stretches in games all season.

Then, once the defense got back to finding its way into opposing backfields, the second-half rout was on.

After surrendering 202 first-half yards, the Bruins limited the Broncos to just 28 total yards in the pivotal third quarter.

Passing

Ethan Garbers: 9 of 12 for 152 yards, 2 TDs

Collin Schlee: 11 of 16 for 78 yards, TD

Rushing

T.J. Harden: 20 carries for 105 yards, 2 TDs

Receiving

J.Michael Sturdivant: 4 catches for 142 yards, TD

Kyle Ford: 5 catches for 33 yards, TD

Hudson Habermehl: 2 catches for 6 yards, TD

Defense

Darius Muasau: 11 tackles, 2 1/2 for loss

Grayson Murphy: 8 tackles, 1 1/2 for loss, sack

Alex Johnson: INT