Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Notes: Shenault Earns Pac-12 Honor, Coaches Praise Montez's Poise
September 10, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, the second straight week the Buffs have had a player earn conference honors.
Sophomore linebacker Nate Landman won the league's defensive honor last week.
Shenault, from DeSoto, Texas, had his second straight outstanding game Saturday in CU's 33-28 win over Nebraska. The 6-foot-2 220-pound sophomore wideout — who also lines up in the backfield and at H-back — caught 10 passes for 177 yards, including the game-winning 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Steven Montez with 1:06 left in the game.
Shenault also rushed twice for 5 yards and a touchdown, converting fourth downs on both carries.
Shenault has 21 catches for 388 yards and two touchdowns in two games. He is currently the nation's leader in FBS in receptions (10.5 per game) and receiving yards per game (194.0). His 388 yards in two games are the second-most in back-to-back games in Colorado history.
Landman, who had 14 tackles and an interception last week in CU's opening win over Colorado State, was nominated again for the defensive honor after recording 14 more tackles and another interception against the Huskers.
STELLAR GAME FROM MONTEZ: Despite being under pressure for most of the game — and despite seven sacks — Colorado quarterback Steven Montez had his second straight solid performance in the win over Nebraska. Montez finished with 351 yards and three touchdowns passing, with 33 completions in 50 attempts and no interceptions.
His biggest play was the 40-yard scoring strike to Shenault, but he also had several key third-down conversions to keep scoring drives alive.
"I was really, really pleased with our quarterback, his composure," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "He kept playing, he kept playing. He saw certain things and made great plays. I was really pleased with him and the overall effort of our team."
CU quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper said Montez continues to develop and improve in all facets of the game — and noted that some of the sacks were not the offensive line's fault.
"When you have some of those sacks, those aren't all on the offensive line," Roper said. "There were some that were on him, especially early down and distances. Third down, some it's going to happen. But what I thought he did, even in those situations, is he never forced anything and turned the ball over. It gave us a chance to win the game at the end."
That improvement, Roper said, is produced in practice.
"It's fun to watch as a coach," he said. "What it gets down to is he's a really talented player and he's starting to understand the game, and part of that is simply through a ton of reps. But probably what I'm most proud about is he's practicing at a high level and that's what you have to do to win football games."
LINE PLAY: After spending Sunday reviewing game film,MacIntyre said Monday th ere were "definitely some things we have to correct," but overall, both the offensive and defensive units did what was necessary to produce a win.
"Since I've been at Colorado, we've played some really good defensive lines, but we haven't played a defensive line that could rotate nine guys that were all as big and as strong and as powerful as those guys," MacIntyre said. "They were an extremely powerful defensive front. That wore us down a couple times. (But) I thought overall our guys just kept playing hard."
MacIntyre also liked the play of CU's defensive line, which recorded a pair of quarterback sacks and also came back to have a strong second half against the run.
"I thought our defensive line, as the game got going, got used to their size and shedded blocks and started making plays, which I was concerned about going in," MacIntyre said. "I thought they really improved on that. I thought our defensive staff made some really good adjustments at halftime on a few things at halftime."
PREPARING FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Buffs began working on their preparations for Saturday's 3 p.m. home opener against New Hampshire at Folsom Field (Pac-12 Mountain).
The Wildcats started the season ranked No. 9 in the FCS coaches poll, but have since dropped two games, falling to Maine 35-7 in the season opener before dropping a 10-3 decision to Colgate last weekend.
This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
