PASADENA — UCLA players, fresh off the bus ride to the Rose Bowl, trickled onto the field 2 1/2 hours before kickoff of Saturday’s season opener to get loose before putting on the pads and uniform.

Starting quarterback Ethan Garbers was among the first, surveying the empty stands as he backpedaled and turned into the end zone nearest the tunnel to the Bruins’ locker room.

Five minutes later, Kent State transfer Collin Schlee tossed one of three small medicine balls, each of varying sizes, against a wall in the tunnel.

At 5:10 p.m., freshman Dante Moore finally emerged, donning his No. 3 warm-up T-shirt and headphones and sporting an ear-to-ear smile as he looked around to soak in “an appreciative moment.”

At that moment, the 18-year-old from Detroit realized he was getting prepared to play in his first collegiate game at the very same stadium he visited last December as part of a recruiting visit before committing to UCLA. Among the areas of the Rose Bowl that particularly stuck with him on that trip was a room that showcased the history of the nearly 101-year-old facility.

Reminded after the Bruins’ 27-13 win over Coastal Carolina of that quiet pregame moment that just one reporter was present to witness and film, Moore flashed that same child-like smile, looked down while seated in front of the microphone and shook his head.

At that moment, he could only think: “I can’t believe I’m playing in the Rose Bowl.”

“I know when I took my visit here, you know, just walking in the Rose Bowl Stadium, just the tradition of what it has,” Moore said after completing 7 of 12 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in his debut.