BOULDER – Redshirt freshman quarterback Steven Montez is listed atop the Colorado Buffaloes depth chart as they head into Eugene, Oregon to play the Ducks on Saturday. Starter Sefo Liufau may or may not play in the Buffs first conference matchup due to an ankle injury that forced him out of the Michigan game early.
Montez, for a redshirt freshman, has a lot of experience. Already playing in all three games this year the six-foot-five gunslinger from El Paso, TX was also the program’s first team rep getter during spring due to Liufau’s Lisfranc injury.
“He had a good fall,” Head Coach Mike MacIntyre noted. “He got most of the reps at spring practice too, he did a good job and he’s played in all three games thus far so his feet are wet so to speak, it’s not like he’s going to be out there for the first time. Steven is capable of making plays and moving our offense, he has a good arm and can run. I think he’ll do well if he has a chance to get in there.”
No doubt, he’s about as experienced as it gets for a 19-year-old backup quarterback but he wasn’t overly impressive in Ann Arbor.
“I’m definitely always ready to play no matter the situation,” Montez mentioned. “Especially getting in all the games we’ve played so far I think that’ll help me out in the long run.”
In the games he’s played he has thrown 17 passes with six competitions, nabbing two touchdowns. However, in both the Colorado State and Michigan games he didn’t complete a pass.
“Things were coming real fast at Michigan,” Montez said. “I tried to do all that I could but things were coming really fast. I made some mistakes, we’re gonna clean those up and I’m gonna look better.”
“I talked to him a little bit about it,” MacIntyre said of Montez. “He went in, we had the momentum and Sefo goes down, then we kick off to them they had a pretty good return then our kicker blows his Achilles. It’s like bang, bang, bang our whole team, it was emotionally hard for our football team… It is hard to get thrown into that situation in that time but Steven has a lot of moxie to him and he’ll bounce back.”
Montez rough Michigan outing was understandable. It was a very rough circumstance for him to get his first meaningful game action. He didn’t help the Buffs as they collapsed in the second half but can really blame him
“I had some decent throws, and I had some bad throws,” the quarterback told. “I had some nerves and a little not knowing the situation.”
Nevertheless, Montez is oozing with confidence headed to Eugene.
“I know some people do, some people don’t (need a rough first experience,)” he said. “Hopefully that game will be to my benefit, and help me mature a little bit. I think overall it was a good experience to play in a stadium in front of 10,000 people. That can’t be bad for you.”
It’s not Montez choice if he will play but what Montez can control is his readiness.
“It’s different, but I got to stay true to my reads and not try to do too much and not get away from what I’m usually good at doing, that’s what got me in trouble,” Montez said. “I’m focusing in on their defense, looking at their defense and knowing how our routes attack their defense.”
