Buffs QB Montez Earns Bevy Of Honors; Liufau's Ankle Continues To Improve

BOULDER — Steven Montez's big weekend stretched into the week Monday, when he was honored with a bevy of awards after his record-setting performance helped the Buffs to a 41-38 win over Oregon on Saturday.

For Oregon State coach Gary Andersen, though, Montez's big weekend will only mean extra film study for the Beavers' defensive staff this week.

In his starting debut, Montez threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a game-high 135 yards and another score, becoming the first player in CU history to throw for at least 300 yards and run for 100 in the same game.

Those numbers obviously caught the nation's attention.

Monday, he was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, the Rose Bowl Pac-12 Player of the Week and the national offensive player of the week by College Sports Madness; as well as being selected as one of eight Manning Award "Stars of the Week" and one of eight O'Brien Award "Great 8" selections.

It's the second time a Buffs quarterback has been honored by the Pac-12 this year. After the first week of the season, CU's Sefo Liufau was named the conference offensive player of the week after leading Colorado to a 44-7 win over Colorado State.

Also honored Monday was Montez's position coach, as CoachingSearch.com named CU's Brian Lindgren as its Quarterbacks Coach of the Week. That comes on the heels of CU head coach Mike MacIntyre being named national coach of the week by ESPN's Adam Rittenberg.

All in all, a good weekend.

"It was an impressive performance," Lindgren said of Montez's starting debut. "I think it was something we all knew he was capable of. Being around him in the spring and fall camp, we got glimpses of that in practice. But too see him come out in his first start in an environment like that, one of the toughest places to play in the country against a pretty good defense and execute on that level … that's really impressive. Even from what we all knew what he could do, you have to say he exceeded our expectations."

The question this week is whether Montez will get the call again Saturday when the Buffs play host to Oregon State at Folsom Field (12:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks), or whether regular starter Liufau, who missed the Oregon game with an ankle injury, will be ready to go.

Monday morning, MacIntyre kept his cards close to his vest.

"Sefo worked out there today," MacIntyre said. "He's still not 100 percent, so we'll just kind of see how the week progresses along and go from there."

Last week, the Buffs stayed mostly mum on Liufau's progress through the week and waited until game day to announce that he wouldn't start. The move evidently caught the Ducks by surprise, as Oregon players were quoted after the game as saying that they'd expected to see the CU senior.

Now, Oregon State's Andersen will have to prepare for two quarterbacks — both of whom have proven to be extremely effective this year. In two and one-half games, Liufau has completed 54 of 76 attempts for 768 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. Montez is 29-for-49 for 450 yards and five touchdowns, with two interceptions. Montez has also rushed for 165 yards; Liufau for 124.

"I think we have two good quarterbacks," MacIntyre said. "However it works out, I think we have two good quarterbacks and I also think we have two really tough quarterbacks, which is impressive. We'll make sure Sefo is 100 percent. He's got to be able to go and move."

After Monday's practice, Montez found himself surrounded by a host of media. He noted that he'd received a text from former Buffs star Nelson Spruce after the game — "It was awesome hearing from Nelson" — then noted that he saw plenty of places to improve after viewing the game film.

"The film is never as good as you think and it's never as bad as you think," he said. "When I went back to watch I thought I'd had a pretty good game, (but) I saw that there's still tons of room to improve," he said. "I could have had a way better game and I missed a lot of things. We have to go in and improve on that."

Buffs offensive co-coordinator Darrin Chiaverini said he saw something special in Montez when Chiaverini arrived last spring from Texas Tech.

"He knows how to throw the football and he knows how to create," Chiaverini said. "You can't coach that. That's in the kid. That creating and making plays and scrambling, that's in the kid. That doesn't come from coaching."

Chiaverini also said Montez reminded him of Texas Tech standout quarterback Pat Mahomes.

"He's got a little bit of that X-factor that all great quarterbacks have," Chiaverini said. "He's got a long ways to go to get to that level of a Pat Mahomes, but he looks like a young Pat, where he can create, make plays, he can throw the deep ball, he can deliver slants, he can throw option routes, he can run the draw. That's impressive."

Although he was born and raised in El Paso, Montez has some deep Colorado roots. His father, Alfred Montez, was a standout athlete at Granada High School in the late 1980s, where he excelled in football, basketball and baseball. His father, brothers and an uncle were at the game Saturday in Eugene, making the win even more special

While Montez's physical skills were indeed impressive in the Oregon game, his mental makeup also showed through. After throwing two interceptions in the third quarter that helped the Ducks score three unanswered touchdowns to take their first lead of the game, Montez came back to lead the Buffs on what proved to be the game-winning drive.

Before the drive, Liufau pulled him aside and told him everyone on the team still had full faith in him. Chiaverini also gathered the entire offense together and told them to prepare to head back on the field and score.

"I got the whole offense on the bench after we threw the second pick and I said, 'Hey, we're going to win this game,'" Chiaverini said. "No one panicked. There's plenty of time left. We'll get the ball back, we'll go score and we'll win the game."

Montez said the sideline support provided a major lift.

"It was huge coming off those two picks, two huge mistakes that we can't have, period," Montez said. "Just going out on the sidelines and having Sefo and all the teammates say, 'Look, it's not over, you're going to go back out there, you're going to score a touchdown and we're going to win this game.' It's huge having that confidence and just that base behind you that keeps pushing you to do the best you can.''

Monday, Montez continued to get some snaps with the No. 1 offense. Liufau, meanwhile, continued to show steady improvement, moving much better than he was even at the end of last week. As MacIntyre said, the question of who will start Saturday against the Beavers is one that won't be answered until later in the week.

But one thing Montez does know is that if he's called upon to play again, he'll have the full faith of his teammates and coaches.

"That trust is huge," Montez said. "Always have faith behind you and know that your teammates always have your back and they always believe in you to go out there and get a win."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu