This post was updated Oct. 22 at 9:19 p.m.

STANFORD – Ethan Garbers stole the spotlight from the birthday boy hours before kickoff.

The redshirt junior quarterback got the start for the Bruins, marking his first since their season opener. The momentous late decision came on Carson Steele’s 21st birthday, no less.

But the junior running back did get his cake – Garbers just ate it, too.

No. 25 UCLA football (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) dominated the first half against Stanford (2-5, 1-4) and kept on rolling, reentering the win column to a 42-7 tune Saturday night at Stanford Stadium. The Bruins held a three-possession lead going into halftime and kept the Cardinal quiet afterward, nixing any hopes at back-to-back weeks of comeback magic for the home team.

With freshman quarterback Dante Moore not at 100% during practice, Garbers received the lion’s share of repetitions and found out late in the week that he would assume the starting role. He said he jumped at the opportunity.

“It’s what we do. At the end of the day, the best thing about football is football,” Garbers said. “Getting out there playing, being with the guys that I spend all my time with, is awesome.”

Despite its unexpected nature, coach Chip Kelly’s benching of Moore paid immediate dividends.

Garbers was perfect on his first two drives under center, going 5-for-5 for 78 yards through the air en route to a pair of touchdowns. But he wasn’t the source of the scoring for either.

Celebrating the day in a big way – and wasting no time in doing so – Steele found the end zone on UCLA’s opening possession, taking the handoff from Garbers and darting to the left for a six-point dive. He made the same move on the following drive to find paydirt once again.

“Just a tough, hard-nosed, physical runner – he’s (Steele) always running behind his pads, has great body lean, he’s got great balance,” Kelly said. “Very rarely does the first person knock him down, and he’s got a great mindset when it comes to running the football. He’s tenacious when he has the ball in his hands.”

Then, to cap the Bruins’ 15-play, 97-yard march – their longest of the contest – Kelly trusted Steele with the rock in the red zone. Delivering again, Steele extended his team’s lead with time waning in the second quarter to mark 21 points for his 21 years.

“It’s awesome how little things like that kind of work,” Steele said. “Just being able to jump out in front and kind of hold them down.”

Garbers complemented his teammate’s on-the-ground success, pitching in 51 yards with his legs and two carries for third-down conversions. He would go on to complete his first eight passes before ceding an incompletion, ending the first half on an efficient 14-of-17 for 144 passing yards.

Kelly – who said Moore’s level of play in recent weeks had nothing to do with the quarterback change – ultimately was satisfied with how Garbers performed.

“We’ve always felt like we’ve had three kids that can play quality football for us, so really pleased with Ethan today,” Kelly said. “But I don’t think anything that Ethan did surprised any of us on our staff or any of our players, because we see that on a daily basis from Ethan.”

Stanford’s offense had a far rougher evening.

Ultimately punting on all five of its possessions before the break – including a trio of three-and-outs – the Cardinal struggled to stay in the game, and poor discipline on both sides of the ball didn’t make their night any easier. Ten penalties doubled the Bruins’ total mistakes.

UCLA would pile on even more points before Stanford could cross the goal line, with Garbers eventually looking beyond Steele and scoring through the air. Thanks to redshirt sophomores wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant and tight end Moliki Matavao, Garbers ended the night credited with two scores of his own.

And when wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier finally got the Cardinal on the board, the Bruins followed suit as sophomore running back T.J. Harden picked up his fourth touchdown of the season.

Moore did return to the field for UCLA. But with 12 minutes to go and Stanford trailing by 35, he was restricted to garbage time for experience against the Pac-12’s worst defense.

The party had all but ended, and Garbers and Steele sat on the sideline benches with full stomachs.