Buffs QB Montez Continues To Take Steps Forward
October 05, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Overshadowed by last week's Colorado loss at UCLA was one very promising detail:
Buffs sophomore quarterback Steven Montez continues to make strides.
Montez's numbers against the Bruins were by no means overwhelming, at least in the air: 17-for-36 for 243 yards and a touchdown. He supplemented those numbers rather nicely with a team-leading 108 yards on the ground on just 15 carries, a healthy 7.2-yards-per-carry average.
But perhaps most importantly, Montez did enough to give the Buffs a chance to win. He made plays, did not turn the ball over, and put Colorado in position to score touchdowns (he had two passes dropped in the end zone and a touchdown run nullified by a penalty).
"I thought Steven played well," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "The quarterback has to play well and then everybody else around him has to play well. In the UCLA game, he played well enough for us to win. Could he have made more plays? Yes, but you can always say that. I thought he played well enough for us to win that football game, there's no doubt."
It was another step forward in the development of a young quarterback whose flashy debut a year ago perhaps eclipsed the fact that he is still a youngster learning the college game.
When the season began, Montez displayed a tendency to escape from the pocket a little too soon on occasion. But as the year has progressed, he has learned the difference between when it is necessary to hit the escape button and scramble — and when he still has time to stand in the pocket and throw.
He has also become more selective, learning when to try to make plays on his own and when to throw the ball away and live with an incompletion.
"I think it's been kind of progressing each week," Montez said. "It's just more comfortable in the pocket, staying in the pocket and not bailing out early. We're still working on that and (co-offensive coordinator Brian) Lindgren has helped me out a lot with that."
Lindgren, also the quarterbacks coach, has no doubt proven to be a key in Montez's development.
""He's a huge help to me, for sure," Montez said. "He's improved my game ever since I got here. He got that skinny kid from El Paso, Texas, and kind of turned him into a quarterback. That's kind of how I would describe it."
Montez enters Saturday's home game against Arizona (6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) ranked sixth in the conference in passing and fourth in total offense. The UCLA game was just the second in five this year that he did not throw an interception and his 108 yards rushing were a season best.
"I was always pretty comfortable with running the ball because I was running around the backfield a lot and we did a lot of read option and power read stuff at my high school," Montez said. "Coming out of high school I was pretty comfortable with that. But I'm even more comfortable now because I've gotten that many more reps, so it's starting to look really good."
Montez has no doubt taken some hits running the ball, and has been slow to get up on occasion. But, he said, he's not worried about the injury factor.
"I'm feeling good, just getting a ton of rest, taking a couple Epsom salt bathes, getting my body right," he said. "I feel good though. I mean, we're playing football; it's not like golf where you're standing out there swinging clubs … no offense to Tiger (Woods), Rory (McIlroy) and all them, they're freak athletes too, but it's a contact sport so you're going to be a little sore after games. (I'm) not anymore sore than I've been."
Montez was also named to the Pro Football Focus Pac-12 Team of the Week.Now, his goal is to help the CU offense improve its consistency and break into the Pac-12 win column.
"I think this is a very important game," Montez said. "Obviously nobody wants to start Pac-12 play 0-2, and you definitely can't start 0-3. I think everybody is very excited for this game and we're kind of just waiting on Saturday."
KICK COVERAGE EXCELLENCE: A key matchup to keep an eye on this week? Try Colorado's kickoff team vs. Arizona's kickoff return team.
Heading into the weekend, Colorado is one of nine teams in the country that has not allowed a kickoff return of more than 22 yards this year. The Wildcats, meanwhile, are 17th in the nation in kick returns, averaging 25.9 yards per return. Arizona's most potent weapon in that category is Tyrell Johnson, who is averaging 28.2 yards per return and has a 58-yarder to his credit.
The Buffs will be answering with kicker Davis Price, who has kicked off 29 times this year, with 21 touchbacks. Only seven of his kicks have been returned, with the longest just 22 yards and overall a 17.1-yard average by opponents.
The Buffs will also be keeping a close eye on Wildcats punt returner Shun Brown, who is averaging 27.0 yards per return, with two touchdowns already (66 and 63 yards).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
