BOULDER – There is always going to be pressure on a college quarterback replacing a four-year starter. Yet, the transition from Sefo Liufau to Steven Montez feels a bit unusual.
There is a certain level of comfort that is already there. The coaches are comfortable with their new QB1, the players around Montez seem excited. If there was any nervousness about replacing the starter you didn’t see it in their eyes.
That’s because this transition is different.
Montez is walking in having played in 10 games last season, including starts against Oregon, Oregon State and USC. He was good, too. Against the Ducks, he became the first CU quarterback to ever throw for 300-plus yards while also gaining 150+ yards on the ground.
“I think there’s a little bit of confidence there,” Montez humbly replied when asked about the confidence his teammates have in him. “Just seeing that I have game experience and I’ve done a decent job running the offense and just getting us into good situations and making plays.”
There’s also a certain level of comfort because of the players that are around Montez. If he looks to the side of him he has a fifth-year senior running back that’s on multiple watch lists and is expected to be one of the top running backs in the country.
“He makes my job worlds easier because he kind of gets everybody rolling,” Montez explained about Phillip Lindsay. “It was him and Sefo last year but now that Sefo is gone it’s kind of just him. I’m trying to fill into that leadership role as well and I think I’m doing a good job. But Phil is definitely the head leadership of the offense as well as Jeromy Irwin.”
Credit: Matt Sisneros, BSN Denver
Then if he looks out wide he sees a group of receivers that could be one of the best all-around receiving corps in the nation. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback wasn’t afraid to name every single one of the weapons he’s excited about in 2017.
“Obviously all of the blackout boyz are huge playmakers,” Montez said. “Bryce Bobo’s been big for us, Shay Fields has been big for us, Devin Ross has been big for us, Jay MacIntyre, KD Nixon’s playing big right now, Juwann (Winfree) and obviously Kabion Ento, the list goes on and on. We have tons of studs at the receiver position.”
On top of all of that, he has an offensive line protecting him that head coach Mike MacIntyre is calling, “The best offensive line since I’ve been here.” And for good reason, three of them are fifth-year seniors and another one of them was a freshman All-American.
“From the center to the whole left side is all seniors, [Jonathan] Huckins, G[errad] Kough and [Jeromy] Irwin are all seniors,” Montez explained. “And we’re not too shabby on the right side with Tim Lynott, I know he made some Pac-12 list, and then Aaron Haigler is also a stud, he gained tons of weight, he’s real strong and powerful and knows how to put people on their behind.”
It’s easy to see why this doesn’t feel like a normal quarterback transition.
Montez put in the work in the off-season to cut down and lose some of his extra body fat so that during fall camp he can focus solely on playing football. Most of the pressures that we normally see a new quarterback having to deal with is now off his shoulders.
The redshirt sophomore can focus on doing what he does best all camp, slinging the football around with stinging velocity.
