Three takeaways from the Buffs' win over Nebraska

BOULDER, (Colo.) — Where to start?

The Buffs first game at Folsom Field of 2019 was a wild one. Close your eyes and drop your finger on a random spot on the play-by-play sheet and it’ll be one worth taking another look at.

It was wild.

Here’s what you need to know:

Steven Montez picked his game up

The first half was ugly for the Buffs’ offense.

It’s tough to pin down exactly what went wrong, but I’m going to give it a try.

The problems start with the checkdowns. Early in the game, senior quarterback Steven Montez didn’t seem like himself. He looked tentative.

Montez completed 8 of his first 10 passes but they only gained 51 yards. The first pass he threw downfield was intercepted. Even when Laviska Shenault was lined up outside in single coverage, Montez was content to take the easy option.

The offensive line struggled, giving up sacks and holding calls early. That didn’t help matters.

As time wound down in the second quarter, Montez led a decent drive built off of short passes, but it stalled at midfield.

Then halftime hit. That’s when Montez said things changes, after the game.

“I mean, we kind of just got it together. We all kind of just calmed down,” Montez said. “We just took the coaching we were getting on the sideline and applied it and good things happened for us.”

In the second half, Montez looked like a different quarterback. He was slinging the ball all over the field. He hit K.D. Nixon on a 96-yard flea-flicker touchdown. He found Tony Brown deep as well.

That’s who he is, and that’s who he needs to be.

The key in the second half was that he was taking the checkdowns when nothing else was available, not just as a first look. Once he came out of his shell, he looked like a guy who can take the Buffs where they want to go.

He was 15-23 for 296 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, with no interceptions.

Mustafa Johnson is a freak

Mustafa Johnson scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the Rocky Mountain Showdown. But other than that play, his night was quiet.

Johnson was not quiet on Saturday. Here’s what he earned:

• 3 sacks.
• 3 tackles for loss.
• 1 quarterback hit.
• 1 forced fumble.
• My Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week vote.

Mustafa Johnson wrecked that game.

This is huge news since Colorado didn’t produce much of a pass rush at all over the first six quarters of the 2019 season. In the second half of the Nebraska game, they broke out.

Alex Tchangham also contributed two sacks and two tackles for loss.

Mekhi Blackmon had a strip-sack.

In the first half of the game, Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez picked apart the Colorado defense because he had so much time. Martinez was perfect through three quarters with nine completions on nine attempts for 180 yards and a touchdown.

In the second half, Martinez completed 7 of 17 attempts for 110 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

The coverage was cleaned up, but the big change was the big guys in his face.

“It could have gone one of two ways,” Johnson said. “We could have tucked our tails in and gotten ready for the second half, or we could have kept our heads up, gotten behind each other, gone through our adjustments, and be ready to come out and play the second half, which is what we did.”

Tony Brown is a key

Colorado is deep at the skill positions.

Jaylon Jackson caught a 57-yard bomb.

Brady Russell caught four passes as a tight end.

Dimitri Stanley showed what the hype is about.

But senior receiver Tony Brown has solidified himself as Colorado’s top weapon at wide receiver behind K.D. Nixon and Laviska Shenault, after two strong performances.

Tony Brown caught the 26-yard game-tying touchdown, and that will get most of the play, but he was one of the Buffs’ most consistent contributors all afternoon.

“When the play was called, I knew it was coming to me so I had to make a play for my teammates,” Brown said of his touchdown. “So that’s what I had to do.”