Woelk: Montez, Buffs Bounce Back In Big Way In Win Over Bears

BOULDER — Those were the Colorado Buffaloes we'd been waiting to see.

More specifically, that was the Steven Montez we'd been expecting all season, the gunslinger with the big arm just waiting to produce big plays.

Not that Saturday's 44-28 CU win over visiting Cal at Folsom Field was all Colorado's quarterback. Colorado's defense had a stellar afternoon, running back Phillip Lindsay was terrific, CU's wide receivers more than did their part, the Buffs' offensive line had perhaps its most consistent game of the year and Colorado's special teams were — as has been the case all season — dependable.

It all added up to Colorado's fifth win of the season, and it came against a team that just two weeks ago produced a stunning 37-3 shellacking of then-No. 8 Washington State.

But despite all the other questions surrounding the Buffs after their lackluster 28-0 loss at Washington State, the biggest query in Buff Nation was simple: after a week of Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre throwing open the quarterback competition, how would the starter — whoever he might be — react?

When No. 12 trotted onto the field Saturday, he provided the answer. Montez produced undoubtedly his best performance of the year, completing 20 of 26 attempts for 347 yards and three touchdowns, along with 17 yards rushing and one touchdown on the ground.

"I had a huge chip on my shoulder," Montez said after the game. "I had to prove to everybody why I should be out there and why I should be playing."

For one afternoon, at least, Montez reversed field on all the mistakes that had plagued him in recent weeks. He stood tall in the pocket, threw downfield with authority and re-established a deep ball connection that had been missing for eight weeks of the season.

It was a direct 180-degree turn from the quarterback who was benched at halftime of last week's 28-0 loss at Washington State.

"I was really upset all week," Montez said. "I just really wanted to get back to the drawing board. I felt like I had let my team down against Washington State. … I felt like I needed to get back and make a statement."

Montez made that statement on CU's second possession of the game.

On second-and-7 from the Cal 12-yard line, Montez was blindsided and sacked for a 10-yard loss, leaving the Buffs with a third-and-17.

In previous weeks, the sack would have rattled Montez, made him gunshy in the pocket. But on the very next play, Montez stood steadily inside his protection, then found a streaking Devin Ross across the middle for a 22-yard touchdown throw.

It was exactly what CU's offense needed, and it set the stage for more big plays.

There was a 58-yard bomb to true freshman Laviska Shenault Jr. that set up a 7-yard Montez touchdown run. There was a picture-perfect 65-yard scoring toss to Shay Fields — CU's longest pass of the year — that gave the Buffs a 21-7 lead.

But perhaps most importantly, there came the fourth-quarter touchdown drive that gave the Buffs a 20-point cushion.

With the Bears still just two scores away and the Buffs still holding onto a 27-14 lead, Montez and the Buffs put together a 14-play, 74-yard march that consumed 5:55 off the clock. With Lindsay gaining tough yards up the middle, the Buffs drove to the Cal 19 before a penalty seemingly stalled the drive.

But once again, on third-and-long, Montez delivered a 23-yard scoring strike to Jay MacIntyre to give Colorado a 34-14 cushion.

"I'm almost sure that's the first time Steven's ever been benched," MacIntyre said. "How he handled that showed a lot of his character and work ethic. I think it also showed his trust in us to do the best thing for the team. … I'm really happy with the way Steven played. That's what I expect him to do all the time."

Actually, Saturday's performance is the way MacIntyre expected his entire team to play all season.

Lindsay produced his normal workhorse effort, grinding out 161 yards on 33 carries. Eight different Buffs caught passes. CU's offensive line opened up holes for Lindsay and gave Montez time to throw.

And CU's defense came up with big stops when needed. While the final statistics show Cal with 435 yards total offense, 210 of those (and 14 points) came in the fourth quarter, after the Buffs had put the game away for all intents and purposes.

The Buffs finished with four quarterback sacks — a season-high in Pac-12 play — and six tackles for loss. Defensive back Evan Worthington had one of those sacks, along with seven tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup while linebacker Drew Lewis had five tackles, a sack and two pass breakups.

Overall, it was the Buffs' most complete game of the season, one in which the offense, defense and special teams (James Stefanou was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal tries) all contributed.

"We needed to win bad, especially at home," MacIntyre said. "We want to win them all and we're going to try to win them all, but you have a better chance at home. We needed to take care of that and we did today. I think that's big for all those kids' confidence."

Now 5-4 on the season, the Buffs need one more win to become bowl eligible. It might not be the goal that they began the season with, but it is still one well worth pursuing.

"One at a time," Lindsay said. "It's one game at a time and we can't worry about what anyone else is saying. The offense really came together today and the defense played lights out. We put it all together, now we just have to go do it again next week. One at a time."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu