Montez Leads Offensive Surge, Buffs Drop Rams 45-13

DENVER — The Colorado Buffaloes were confident they had the potential for an explosive offense.

Friday night, they turned that potential into production. The Buffs offense set the pace early and CU's defense followed suit, leading the Buffaloes to a 45-13 season-opening win over rival Colorado State in the Rocky Mountain Showdown. The win, Colorado's fourth in a row in the series, dropped CSU to 0-2 on the season.

Led by quarterback Steven Montez, the Buffs scored on their first three possessions of the game to take a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. CU built the lead to 28-10 by halftime, and then put the game away with two more touchdowns early in the third quarter.

Montez completed 22 of his 25 attempts for 338 yards and four touchdowns, and he also ran for a 38-yard touchdown, CU's first score of the evening. Laviska Shenault Jr. led all receivers with 11 receptions for 211 yards and a score, wide receiver K.D. Nixon added six catches for 112 yards and a score, and graduate transfer Travon McMillian carried the ball 10 times for 103 yards and a touchdown in his first appearance in a Colorado uniform.

Defensively, the Buffs were also solid across the board. Sophomore linebacker Nate Landman finished with 16 tackles, including two for loss, and an interception in his first start while sophomore defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson had five tackles, half a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and a tipped pass that resulted in Landman's interception. Cornerback Delrick Abrams Jr., also making his CU debut, had nine tackles, including one for loss.

"I thought our guys played hard tonight," said CU head coach Mike MacIntyre. "I thought we did some good things. … I was excited about the way the guys played. We have to go back to the drawing board and look at some things we have to improve."

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs hit the Rams from every angle — on the ground, with short passes and with the deep ball — and Colorado State's defense never came up with an answer. Colorado finished with a healthy 596-284 edge in total yardage while dominating virtually every statistical category.

The Buffs averaged 9.2 yards per play, nearly tripling the output of CSU (3.7 per play).

"I was really really excited to see those guys when they got opportunities make plays," said Buffs co-offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, who made his debut calling plays from the booth. "Laviska Shenault — people are going to know who No. 2 is now. People are going to know who No. 3 (Nixon) is now, and people are really going to find out who No. 9 (Juwann Winfree) is now. We have a really talented group of receivers and I was excited to see how Travon McMillian ran, tough behind his pads."

The Buffs wanted to set the pace early with their up-tempo offense and they did just that. Colorado went 75 yards to the end zone on five plays on the first drive of the game, with Montez covering the last 38 yards on a run, then added a five-play, 87-yard scoring drive on its next possession. Sophomore K.D. Nixon capped the drive with his first touchdown as a Buff, a 46-yard reception down the sidelines on a perfect throw from Montez.

The Rams temporarily ended the CU run with a 75-yard drive of their own, getting into the end zone on a 26-yard pass from K.J Carta-Samuels to Olabisi Johnson to cut CU's lead to 14-7.

But the Buffs regained control with another 75-yard march, this one using up nine plays. McMillian carried three times for 40 yards on the march before Montez connected with Beau Bisharat from 4 yards out to give CU a 21-7 lead with 2:29 still left in the first quarter.

CU's offense finally hit a lull on its next possession. After completing his first 12 passes of the game, Montez threw an interception to CSU's V.J. Banks. But the Buffs then produced their first defensive takeaway when Johnson tipped a Carta-Samuels pass and Landman plucked it out of the air for his first career interception.

"I just wanted to make sure I caught it," Landman said. "I saw it coming and I caught it with my body. Those tipped balls are sometimes the hardest to catch."

The Buffs then turned the takeaway into a touchdown, going 48 yards in eight plays. Colorado capped the drive with a nifty 4-yard pass from Montez to Juwann Winfree.

"Juwann and I worked all summer throwing together," Montez said. "We threw in the street, we threw in the parking lot, we threw wherever we could. We would go outside and throw in the rain just to get used to it. I put that over his shoulder and I knew he would come up with it.

The Buffs turned it over again late in the second quarter when Nixon was stripped of the ball, and CSU converted the miscue to cut CU's lead to 28-10 at the half.

That was enough to make MacIntyre a little nervous, particularly when he remembered how CSU very nearly overcame a 37-7 deficit a week ago in a loss to Hawaii.

"We messed up on a few things at the end of the first half which could have come back to haunt us," MacIntyre said. "I was a little nervous because we should have had at least 10 more points in the first half."

But the Buffs quickly calmed MacIntyre's nerves in the third quarter. CU forced a punt from the Rams on their opening possession of the half, then dialed up a long-distance touchdown when Montez connected with Shenault on an 89-yard touchdown play for a 35-10 lead.

One series later, following another CSU punt, the Buffs went 70 yards in five plays, with running back Travon McMillian covering the last 49 with nice inside-outside run to give the Buffs a 42-10 lead and send CSU fans trudging to the exits.

It was, clearly, a confidence builder for a young Buffs team that had 11 first-time starters.

"The good thing is we go coach them on Monday and correct them on everything and they'll listen a little better," MacIntyre said. "You can coach them more. I'm excited about what they did today, but we still have a long way to go."

TURNING POINT: Early in the second period, the Rams trailed by two scores but had the ball at midfield and an opportunity to get back in the game. Instead, Johnson tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage that Landman picked off, setting up CU's fourth touchdown of the night and a potential one-score game was a three-score affair with the Buffs in control.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs should have no problem gathering some confidence from their performance on both sides of the ball. CU showed plenty of offensive explosion and some solid defensive improvement. They will no doubt face tougher opponents in the future, but it was a solid start to the season.

NOTABLE: Shenault's 211 yards receiving is the fourth-best single game in CU history. … Montez's 12 straight completion to open the game tied the CU record, matching the mark set by Joel Klatt against Missouri in 2005. … Montez's 38-yard touchdown run was the longest by a CU quarterback since Kordell Stewart had a 60-yard scoring run in 1994. … Shenault's 89-yard touchdown reception was the longest CU play from scrimmage since Robert Hodge threw a 94-yard scoring pass to Jeremy Bloom against Kansas State in 2002. … Montez's quarterback rating of 246.4 is the best in CU history for 20-plus and 25-plus attempts in a game. For both records, he bested Koy Detmer, who had a rating of 244.4 against NE Louisiana on Sept. 16, 1995. Detmer was 19-of-27 for 426 yards with 4 TDs and 1 INT).

NEXT UP: The Buffs travel to Nebraska next Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. matchup with the Huskers. It will be the first meeting between the two former Big 12 rivals since the 2010 season.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu

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Team Stats

Steven Montez

Players Mentioned

Delrick Abrams Jr.

Beau Bisharat

Mustafa Johnson

Nate Landman

Travon McMillian

Steven Montez

K.D. Nixon

Juwann Winfree

Players Mentioned

Delrick Abrams Jr.

Beau Bisharat

Mustafa Johnson

Nate Landman

Travon McMillian

Steven Montez

K.D. Nixon

Juwann Winfree