Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Brooks: Run Game Allows Montez To Settle In, Go To Air, Rout Beavers
October 01, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
Buy TicketsHighlightsWATCH: Pac-12 RecapWATCH Coach Mac Postgame SpeechWATCH Pac-12 RecapWATCH Coach MacIntyre post-gameWATCH Montez & Fields post-gameWATCH Davis Price post-gameWATCH Jimmie Gilbert post-gameWATCH: Coach MacIntyre With Jill SaavageWATCH: Steven Montez With Jill SavageWATCH: Shay Fields With Jill SavageGame StoryFields Enjoys Record-Setting DayWoelk: Buffs Continue To Answer QuestionsOlugbode Returns Favor To GamobaOSU's Anderson Gives Buffs High PraiseNotes: Price, Gilbert With Big DaysPostgame NotesQuotesFinal Game Book
Buffs take another solid step toward relevance with 47-6 win
BOULDER – The scoreboard's message always is the bottom line for Brian Lindgren, but there's also a message within the message. He's Colorado's co-offensive coordinator, and game-day finds him with a birds-eye view of the field, calling plays from the coaches' booth and conversing via headset with cohort Darrin Chiaverini on the CU sidelines.
On a good day for the Buffs – one whose goodness is reflected on the scoreboard – Lindgren can leave the booth with time remaining in the fourth quarter.
Saturday was such a day.
"It's the third time this season I've been able to leave the box early," a beaming Lindgren said as he strode across Folsom Field.
Indeed, on the first day of October the Buffs had just moved to 2-0 in the Pac-12 Conference (4-1 overall and two 'W's shy of bowl eligibility) with a 47-6 dismantling of Oregon State. It's the third blowout win in five games for CU, following opening beat downs of Colorado State (44-7) and Idaho State (56-7).
Lindgren was out of the booth early in those two wins, but he remained seated – and very uncomfortably – for the duration two Saturdays ago in Eugene, Ore., where a last-minute end zone pick by Ahkello Witherspoon preserved CU's 41-38 upset of Oregon.
In Saturday's final 5 minutes, following freshman leg-man Davis Price's second field goal in a historic debut afternoon, the Buffs led 40-6. That's LED. Some of the 46,839 fans had seen enough and figured there might better things to do outside of Folsom on a brilliantly bright fall Saturday.
But unlike Saturdays of the past decade or so, anyone in CU colors who exited early did so with a peaceful, easy feeling – not angst in their guts over a Buffs team that just couldn't quite compete. This team is different, and if CU has an afternoon well enough in hand to allow Brian Lindgren to leave his perch early, why not long-suffering Buffs fans?
Said Lindgren: "This is fun."
It is fun. It's a blast. It's a hoot. The Buffs have taken four solid steps toward relevance in college football. Their journey is a couple of months from completion, however. When someone says they're suddenly a player now in the Pac-12 South, there can't be the snickers of seasons past.
Are the Buffs for real? Real enough on this afternoon, said Oregon State coach Gary Andersen: "Obviously Colorado was the far superior team today, from bottom to top, coaches all the way through . . . we got thoroughly beat from the first snap all the way through."
Kudos to Andersen for his diplomacy, but the Buffs' first snap – their first three offensive snaps in fact – were busts. The dreaded three-and-out, with redshirt freshman quarterback Steven Montez throwing three consecutive incompletions.
It gave Lindgren – in the booth – and Chiaverini – on the sidelines – plenty to talk about. Montez, subbing for senior starter Sefo Liufau, was making his home debut after playing lights out last week in Oregon. First-time Folsom nerves? Probably.
But Lindgren/'Chev' had an antidote. On CU's second series, said Lindgren, they agreed they should "get the running game going, get (Montez) settled, get a couple of first downs and get some tempo and rhythm going."
So on the Buffs' second offensive series, after the Beavers had taken a 3-0 lead, Montez handed off to tailback Kyle Evans six straight times, with none of Evans' runs more than six yards. The chains were being moved, but glacially.
EVANS, WHO STANDS HIP-PAD high to most of his O-linemen, didn't know his number was going to be called for six straight carries. But, he said, "I'm always ready. They called my name for that second series and I was ready to go."
And it was the perfect set up for Montez. On the drive's seventh play, Montez faked a handoff to Evans, pumped once and found Shay Fields waiting well behind the Beavers' secondary.
"I think the run, this gamef, definitely opened up the pass," Montez said. "We came out and we started out a little shaky with three incompletions. But then we came out with a different mindset that we were going to score."
After Montez and Fields hooked up for their 51-yard touchdown, the Buffs were off and running. And passing. Fields caught two more long TD throws from Montez.
"Fields had an unbelievable day," said Chiaverini, citing the obvious. "Brian and I talked about it on the headset – come out and run the offense. We have enough skill on offense that if (Montez) gets the ball out on time we'll be good."
And that was the one issue that Lindgren, who also coaches the QBs, could nitpick Montez on with his first TD to Fields – or "Big-Play Shay" as he's answering to now.
"I wish he would have gotten the ball out of his hand a little sooner," Lindgren said, "but he made the right read. (Fields) made a little bit of a double move and Steven's got such a strong arm. He threw that ball a little off his back foot; not many guys can wait that long to get rid of the ball. It was a good throw but I'd like him to throw it a little more on time."
But the ball did come out and it eventually got to Fields, who became only fourth Buffalo to have three scoring receptions in a game. His other TD catches were for 33 and 63 yards, and he now has nine career plays over 50 yards – four of them this year.
That's a supreme confidence builder for a quarterback, not that Montez lacked any confidence when he arrived on campus. Sophomore safety Ryan Moeller remembers Montez's first week in the summer PRPs (player run practices).
"He was trying to throw the deep balls and was running his mouth," Moeller recalled. "A bunch of guys were saying, 'Who is this kid?' Everyone was having a little fun out there; we got on him a little bit but everyone gets on everyone. It makes it a little more enjoyable. But he showed he's a hard worker and, yeah, he's gotten the job done."
After accounting for 468 yards of total offense against the Ducks, Montez accounted for 321 against the Beavs (292 passing, 28 running). In his first two college starts, he's passed for 626 yards and six TDs.
THAT'S A CONFIDENCE BOOST even for a guy who might not appear to need one. He's driven, he said, by "the desire to be the best. I just go out there and work every practice and I try to make my family happy, El Paso (his hometown) proud and just play my game."
But, noted Lindgren, if Montez is enjoying life among the peaks right now, he isn't immune to the valleys. "He was really down after Michigan (when he entered the game, CU was leading but eventually lost)," Lindgren said. "But to the people who are around him a lot, he's a really confident guy. Then to come out and have success early as a redshirt freshman and have his teammates rally around him has been really good. He's been feeding off of it."
With three blowout wins, a close loss at Michigan (ranked No. 4 at the time) and their gritty victory at Oregon, the Buffs could be looking at a Top 25 entry this week. Not since 2005 has that happened.
Yeah, it would be nice but it's not what this team is aiming at.
"Being ranked is . . . whatever," Evans said. "I've never been on a ranked team here. I guess it would be good, but you can't let it get to your head. It's not our end goal."
"We'll see," added Chiaverini. "We can't control that. We can control how we're playing – and we're playing at a high level right now."
Look at it this way: The Buffs' four wins overall equal their win totals in two of Mike MacIntyre's previous three seasons. In those three seasons, CU was 2-25 in Pac-12 play. They're not only 2-0 this season with seven conference games remaining, they're a confident 2-0.
"We have confidence in every aspect of what we do," Moeller said. "I even see it in the dining hall. I don't see that scary look in guys' eyes anymore; I see guys who are ready to play."
At long last college football is seeing it too. It's been a long time since the Buffs were ranked, a long time since they played meaningful conference games into November, a long time since the program was relevant on the national level.
All of it could be on the verge of returning, but as coaches like to say, there's still a lot of season left.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
On a good day for the Buffs – one whose goodness is reflected on the scoreboard – Lindgren can leave the booth with time remaining in the fourth quarter.
Saturday was such a day.
"It's the third time this season I've been able to leave the box early," a beaming Lindgren said as he strode across Folsom Field.
Indeed, on the first day of October the Buffs had just moved to 2-0 in the Pac-12 Conference (4-1 overall and two 'W's shy of bowl eligibility) with a 47-6 dismantling of Oregon State. It's the third blowout win in five games for CU, following opening beat downs of Colorado State (44-7) and Idaho State (56-7).
Lindgren was out of the booth early in those two wins, but he remained seated – and very uncomfortably – for the duration two Saturdays ago in Eugene, Ore., where a last-minute end zone pick by Ahkello Witherspoon preserved CU's 41-38 upset of Oregon.
In Saturday's final 5 minutes, following freshman leg-man Davis Price's second field goal in a historic debut afternoon, the Buffs led 40-6. That's LED. Some of the 46,839 fans had seen enough and figured there might better things to do outside of Folsom on a brilliantly bright fall Saturday.
But unlike Saturdays of the past decade or so, anyone in CU colors who exited early did so with a peaceful, easy feeling – not angst in their guts over a Buffs team that just couldn't quite compete. This team is different, and if CU has an afternoon well enough in hand to allow Brian Lindgren to leave his perch early, why not long-suffering Buffs fans?
Said Lindgren: "This is fun."
It is fun. It's a blast. It's a hoot. The Buffs have taken four solid steps toward relevance in college football. Their journey is a couple of months from completion, however. When someone says they're suddenly a player now in the Pac-12 South, there can't be the snickers of seasons past.
Are the Buffs for real? Real enough on this afternoon, said Oregon State coach Gary Andersen: "Obviously Colorado was the far superior team today, from bottom to top, coaches all the way through . . . we got thoroughly beat from the first snap all the way through."
Kudos to Andersen for his diplomacy, but the Buffs' first snap – their first three offensive snaps in fact – were busts. The dreaded three-and-out, with redshirt freshman quarterback Steven Montez throwing three consecutive incompletions.
It gave Lindgren – in the booth – and Chiaverini – on the sidelines – plenty to talk about. Montez, subbing for senior starter Sefo Liufau, was making his home debut after playing lights out last week in Oregon. First-time Folsom nerves? Probably.
But Lindgren/'Chev' had an antidote. On CU's second series, said Lindgren, they agreed they should "get the running game going, get (Montez) settled, get a couple of first downs and get some tempo and rhythm going."
So on the Buffs' second offensive series, after the Beavers had taken a 3-0 lead, Montez handed off to tailback Kyle Evans six straight times, with none of Evans' runs more than six yards. The chains were being moved, but glacially.
EVANS, WHO STANDS HIP-PAD high to most of his O-linemen, didn't know his number was going to be called for six straight carries. But, he said, "I'm always ready. They called my name for that second series and I was ready to go."
And it was the perfect set up for Montez. On the drive's seventh play, Montez faked a handoff to Evans, pumped once and found Shay Fields waiting well behind the Beavers' secondary.
"I think the run, this gamef, definitely opened up the pass," Montez said. "We came out and we started out a little shaky with three incompletions. But then we came out with a different mindset that we were going to score."
After Montez and Fields hooked up for their 51-yard touchdown, the Buffs were off and running. And passing. Fields caught two more long TD throws from Montez.
"Fields had an unbelievable day," said Chiaverini, citing the obvious. "Brian and I talked about it on the headset – come out and run the offense. We have enough skill on offense that if (Montez) gets the ball out on time we'll be good."
And that was the one issue that Lindgren, who also coaches the QBs, could nitpick Montez on with his first TD to Fields – or "Big-Play Shay" as he's answering to now.
"I wish he would have gotten the ball out of his hand a little sooner," Lindgren said, "but he made the right read. (Fields) made a little bit of a double move and Steven's got such a strong arm. He threw that ball a little off his back foot; not many guys can wait that long to get rid of the ball. It was a good throw but I'd like him to throw it a little more on time."
But the ball did come out and it eventually got to Fields, who became only fourth Buffalo to have three scoring receptions in a game. His other TD catches were for 33 and 63 yards, and he now has nine career plays over 50 yards – four of them this year.
That's a supreme confidence builder for a quarterback, not that Montez lacked any confidence when he arrived on campus. Sophomore safety Ryan Moeller remembers Montez's first week in the summer PRPs (player run practices).
"He was trying to throw the deep balls and was running his mouth," Moeller recalled. "A bunch of guys were saying, 'Who is this kid?' Everyone was having a little fun out there; we got on him a little bit but everyone gets on everyone. It makes it a little more enjoyable. But he showed he's a hard worker and, yeah, he's gotten the job done."
After accounting for 468 yards of total offense against the Ducks, Montez accounted for 321 against the Beavs (292 passing, 28 running). In his first two college starts, he's passed for 626 yards and six TDs.
THAT'S A CONFIDENCE BOOST even for a guy who might not appear to need one. He's driven, he said, by "the desire to be the best. I just go out there and work every practice and I try to make my family happy, El Paso (his hometown) proud and just play my game."
But, noted Lindgren, if Montez is enjoying life among the peaks right now, he isn't immune to the valleys. "He was really down after Michigan (when he entered the game, CU was leading but eventually lost)," Lindgren said. "But to the people who are around him a lot, he's a really confident guy. Then to come out and have success early as a redshirt freshman and have his teammates rally around him has been really good. He's been feeding off of it."
With three blowout wins, a close loss at Michigan (ranked No. 4 at the time) and their gritty victory at Oregon, the Buffs could be looking at a Top 25 entry this week. Not since 2005 has that happened.
Yeah, it would be nice but it's not what this team is aiming at.
"Being ranked is . . . whatever," Evans said. "I've never been on a ranked team here. I guess it would be good, but you can't let it get to your head. It's not our end goal."
"We'll see," added Chiaverini. "We can't control that. We can control how we're playing – and we're playing at a high level right now."
Look at it this way: The Buffs' four wins overall equal their win totals in two of Mike MacIntyre's previous three seasons. In those three seasons, CU was 2-25 in Pac-12 play. They're not only 2-0 this season with seven conference games remaining, they're a confident 2-0.
"We have confidence in every aspect of what we do," Moeller said. "I even see it in the dining hall. I don't see that scary look in guys' eyes anymore; I see guys who are ready to play."
At long last college football is seeing it too. It's been a long time since the Buffs were ranked, a long time since they played meaningful conference games into November, a long time since the program was relevant on the national level.
All of it could be on the verge of returning, but as coaches like to say, there's still a lot of season left.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Players Mentioned
TB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
QB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
PK
/ Football
DB
/ FootballMark Johnson & Gary Barnett break down the game vs. BYU | The Buffalo Stampede: Colorado Football
Sunday, September 28
Mark Johnson & Gary Barnett break down the win vs. Wyoming | The Buffalo Stampede: Colorado Football
Sunday, September 21
Introducing Ralphie VII
Friday, September 19
Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, September 16