Wide receiver depth showcased in CU Buffs blowout win

BOULDER – Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jay MacIntyre knew his Colorado Buffaloes couldn’t take the Idaho State Bengals for granted. They didn’t. But some thought it could be a trap game for the Buffs. Sandwiched between matchups against rival Colorado State and No. 4 Michigan, ISU could’ve easily been overlooked by CU, that was not the case.

MacIntyre spotlighted the team’s focus which was displayed in their second straight pounding. The Buffs showed no lapses or lulls against the Bengals, who finished second to last in the Big Sky conference last season. CU started out strong out of the gates, with some nice positive contributions to MacIntyre.

“It was all Idaho State for us,” MacIntyre mentioned. “At the end of the day, it’s just us and everyone else on our schedule, if we don’t all play well, then we’re not gonna win. That’s the mindset we’ve had. Coach Mac has been telling us that every day, along with all the other coaches. We just wanted to get out there and show what we could do. It doesn’t matter who we play.”

Sefo Liufau had a nice day Saturday, too. Playing less than a half, Liufau threw for 204 yards on 15-for-18 with two touchdowns. Again, Liufau showed his ability on the ground as he ran for 54 yards on six carries, including a 19-yard touchdown run in the process. Liufau’s nice day wasn’t all on him though, as several receivers really stepped up.

Shay Fields and Kabion Ento were key in the contest both having two of their receptions go for a combined total of 166 yards. But the key receiver against Idaho State was MacIntyre. He had a very productive game snatching six catches for 76 yards. Mike MacIntyre gave solid praise for Jay’s effort.

“I thought Jay did well,” Head Coach MacIntyre said of his son. “He’s done an excellent job of fielding punts for us and getting positive yards for us and making good decisions. I’m proud of the way he played, he did a good job.”

“Today, my number was called more than last game,” Jay detailed. “Sefo found me on a couple of option routes, but me and Sefo have been working since I ever got here, I’m always there when he throws, and we’re finally clicking. He threw some great balls to me and happened to make some plays.”

Before halftime, Colorado was already up by 42, which allowed redshirt freshman quarterback Steven Montez to get into the game. He looked very impressive from the time he took his first snap, especially when you consider it was his first real action. Montez threw for 117 yards, and was 6-for-10 with two touchdowns. But Montez like Liufau had help from a receiver.

Ento, the JUCO transfer from East Central Community College got his first real action as well. Ironically he was used by Montez similarly to the way Liufau used MacIntyre. Why is this ironic? Well, MacIntyre and Ento are roommates.

“I thought he did well,” Coach MacIntyre recounted. “You saw his strong arm on a curl route that Kabion Ento made those guys miss. I saw him make a couple of nice runs, and we saw him improvise one time and he was able to dump it over the defender. He has those intangibles and it was good to see him out there doing that.”

With the receiving corps in a good place, the Colorado Buffaloes will travel to Ann Arbor to face No. 4 Michigan.